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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.85% to hit a new all time high.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M ), which rose 13.31% or 0.64 points to trade at 5.45 at the close. Meanwhile, Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH ) added 4.15% or 0.04 points to end at 1.00 and ALS Ltd (ASX: ALQ ) was up 3.19% or 0.50 points to 16.16 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC ), which fell 12.37% or 17.19 points to trade at 121.74 at the close. Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1 ) declined 9.45% or 0.79 points to end at 7.57 and Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS ) was down 6.79% or 0.19 points to 2.61.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 582 to 482 and 474 ended unchanged.

Shares in Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH ) rose to 52-week highs; rising 4.15% or 0.04 to 1.00. Shares in ALS Ltd (ASX: ALQ ) rose to 5-year highs; up 3.19% or 0.50 to 16.16.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 3.06% to 11.10.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.49% or 13.05 to $2,687.95 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.03% or 0.02 to hit $70.12 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract unchanged 0.00% or 0.00 to trade at $74.23 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.32% to 0.65, while AUD/JPY fell 0.34% to 100.30.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.17% at 107.11.