Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 1.85%

try{ var _=i o; . if(!_||_&&typeof _==="object"&&_.expiry Oil prices tumble over 6% on report of US peace proposal to Iran Witkoff and Kushner working on ceasefire mechanism, says report; stocks jump Why gold is falling now — and why Goldman says buy the dip More trouble for gold? Turkey central bank weighs gold reserves to defend lira 🧠 Upgrade to AI Insights (South Africa Philippines Nigeria) 🧠 Upgrade to AI Insights Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 1.85% By Stock Markets Published 03/25/2026, 01:30 AM Updated 03/25/2026, 01:30 AM Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 1.85% 0 Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Gold , Metals & Mining and Materials sectors led shares higher. At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 1.85%. The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO ), which rose 18.21% or 0.65 points to trade at 4.22 at the close. Meanwhile, Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR ) added 11.29% or 0.18 points to end at 1.73 and Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN ) was up 10.93% or 1.13 points to 11.47 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were New Hope Corporation Ltd (ASX: NHC ), which fell 5.48% or 0.32 points to trade at 5.52 at the close. Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT ) declined 5.30% or 0.07 points to end at 1.25 and Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC ) was down 4.51% or 0.42 points to 8.89. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 924 to 233 and 329 ended unchanged. The S&P/ASX 200 VIX , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 8.50% to 16.91. Gold Futures for June delivery was up 3.43% or 151.90 to $4,586.00 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 3.72% or 3.44 to hit $88.91 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 4.13% or 4.14 to trade at $96.09 a barrel. AUD/USD was unchanged 0.34% to 0.70, while AUD/JPY f...