Australian shares ended the trading day in positive territory on Thursday, propelled by advances in the Materials, Metals & Mining and A-REITs sectors.
At the close in Sydney the S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.47%.
The session's strongest performers on the S&P/ASX 200 included Guzman Y Gomez Ltd (ASX:GYG), which climbed 12.81% - up 2.05 points to finish at 18.05. Virgin Australia Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX:VGN) rose 9.33%, adding 0.21 points to end the day at 2.46. IGO Ltd (ASX:IGO) also closed higher, increasing 8.00% or 0.68 points to 9.11.
Not all names moved higher. Among the session's laggards, Stanmore Coal (ASX:SMR) fell 7.28% - down 0.19 points to 2.42 at the close. Contact Energy Ltd (ASX:CEN) declined 5.49%, losing 0.45 points and ending at 7.75. Rea Group Ltd (ASX:REA) was down 3.56% or 5.86 points to close at 158.64.
Broad market breadth favored advancers: 722 stocks rose on the Sydney exchange while 411 fell and 397 finished unchanged.
Measures of investor sentiment showed a reduction in implied volatility: the S&P/ASX 200 VIX dropped 6.23% to 13.12.
Commodity price moves were mixed during the session. Gold futures for June delivery slipped 0.27% - down 12.23 to $4,533.92 a troy ounce. In energy markets, crude oil for July delivery rose 0.31% or 0.31 to reach $99.31 a barrel, and the July Brent contract increased 0.65% or 0.69 to trade at $106.17 a barrel.
On the currency front, AUD/USD was reported as unchanged 0.38% to 0.71, while AUD/JPY fell 0.33% to 113.30. The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.04% at 99.10.
The benchmark index closed at 8,621.70, a gain of 125.10 points, reflecting the 1.47% advance for the day.
Market context
Sector leadership from Materials, Metals & Mining and A-REITs helped lift the S&P/ASX 200, while several individual stocks posted outsized moves in both directions. Volatility, as measured by the ASX 200 VIX, eased over the session even as commodities and currencies showed divergent intraday moves.