Feb 8, 2024: Australia stocks ended the trading session on Thursday in positive territory, with gains primarily driven by the IT, Utilities, and Financials sectors.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose by 0.31%.
Among the top performers on the S&P/ASX 200 were AGL Energy Ltd (ASX:AGL), which surged by 10.21% or 0.82 points to reach 8.79 at the close. Nuix Ltd (ASX:NXL) also performed well, gaining 6.33% or 0.10 points to close at 1.72, while News Corp B DRC (ASX:NWS) climbed by 6.30% or 2.48 points to 41.85 by the end of trading.
Conversely, the session saw declines, with Platinum Asset Management Ltd (ASX:PTM) dropping by 7.86% or 0.09 points to 1.05 at the close. Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) slipped by 5.17% or 0.02 points to end at 0.28, and Rea Group Ltd (ASX:REA) decreased by 3.93% or 7.23 points to 176.90.
On the Sydney Stock Exchange, rising stocks outnumbered declining ones, with 593 stocks advancing, 524 declining, and 364 remaining unchanged.
Platinum Asset Management Ltd (ASX:PTM) witnessed a decline to all-time lows, falling by 7.86% or 0.09 to 1.05, while News Corp B DRC (ASX:NWS) reached all-time highs, surging by 6.30% or 2.48 to 41.85.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, increased by 0.82% to 11.43.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery declined by 0.19% or 3.95 to $2,047.75 per troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in March rose by 0.26% or 0.19 to hit $74.05 per barrel, and the April Brent oil contract increased by 0.29% or 0.23 to trade at $79.44 per barrel.
The AUD/USD pair remained unchanged, rising by 0.06% to 0.65, while AUD/JPY climbed by 0.27% to 96.88.
