Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.16%

try{ var _=i o; . if(!_||_&&typeof _==="object"&&_.expiry Traders placed $580M in oil bets minutes before Trump’s Iran post Trump delays strikes on Iranian power plants, says talks with Tehran "very good" Wall Street averages end more than 1% higher on Middle East de-escalation hopes Oil prices jump over 4% after Iran refutes US talks claims (South Africa Philippines Nigeria) Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.16% By Stock Markets Published 03/24/2026, 01:30 AM Updated 03/24/2026, 01:30 AM Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.16% 0 Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Gold , Metals & Mining and Materials sectors led shares higher. At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.16%. The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Genesis Minerals Ltd (ASX: GMD ), which rose 7.29% or 0.39 points to trade at 5.74 at the close. Meanwhile, Pls Group Ltd (ASX: PLS ) added 7.28% or 0.31 points to end at 4.57 and Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR ) was up 6.87% or 0.10 points to 1.55 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were Mercury NZ Ltd (ASX: MCY ), which fell 7.94% or 0.45 points to trade at 5.22 at the close. DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO ) declined 6.01% or 0.23 points to end at 3.60 and Guzman Y Gomez Ltd (ASX: GYG ) was down 4.63% or 0.80 points to 16.49. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 702 to 444 and 338 ended unchanged. Shares in Guzman Y Gomez Ltd (ASX: GYG ) fell to all time lows; down 4.63% or 0.80 to 16.49. The S&P/ASX 200 VIX , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 1.86% to 18.48. Gold Futures for June delivery was down 1.62% or 72.06 to $4,367.44 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 4.49% or 3.96 to hit $92.09 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 4.51% or 4.33 to trade at $100.25 a barrel. AUD/USD was down 0.7...