Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Energy , Healthcare and Consumer Staples sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 1.13% to hit a new 1-month high.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX: NIC ), which rose 6.36% or 0.04 points to trade at 0.58 at the close. Meanwhile, Platinum Asset Management Ltd (ASX: PTM ) added 4.72% or 0.03 points to end at 0.67 and Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV ) was up 4.07% or 0.05 points to 1.28 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Corporate Travel Managment Ltd (ASX: CTD ), which fell 10.00% or 1.30 points to trade at 11.70 at the close. Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP ) declined 4.64% or 0.08 points to end at 1.65 and Web Travel Group Ltd (ASX: WEB ) was down 4.15% or 0.18 points to 4.16.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 613 to 462 and 443 ended unchanged.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 1.88% to 12.03.

Gold Futures for June delivery was up 1.35% or 43.66 to $3,265.86 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 0.73% or 0.43 to hit $59.67 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 0.66% or 0.41 to trade at $62.54 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.64% to 0.64, while AUD/JPY rose 0.39% to 93.20.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.36% at 99.69.