Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.79%

Australia's stocks closed higher on Friday, driven by gains in the IT, Energy and Resources sectors. The S&P/ASX 200 index rose by 0.79%. Megaport Ltd led the gains, surging 10.02% to reach an all-time high of 22.28 points. Life360 Inc added 7.56% while Wisetech Global Ltd climbed by 6.40%. On the downside, Cochlear Ltd fell by 3.92%, LendLease Group dropped 3.86% and Graincorp Ltd Class A declined 2.86%.

The number of falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones by 530 to 509, with 387 ending unchanged. The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, a measure of implied volatility, dropped to 11.27. Gold Futures for December delivery rose 0.41% to $4,219.40 per troy ounce. Crude oil for November delivery slipped 0.79% to $92.14 a barrel, while December Brent oil fell 0.63% to $101.67.

AUD/USD remained unchanged at 0.69, and AUD/JPY decreased by 0.15% to 109.38. The US Dollar Index Futures slipped by 0.23% to 101.65.