Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Monday, with the S&P/ASX 200 index up 0.08%, driven by gains in the A-REITs, IT, and Industrials sectors. Top performers included Insignia Financial Ltd, which surged 14.69% to a three-year high of 4.06, Appen Ltd, up 6.14% to a 52-week high of 2.94, and Ramelius Resources Ltd, which gained 3.32% to 2.18.
On the downside, Mesoblast Ltd dropped 3.79% to 3.05, St Barbara Ltd fell 4.08% to 0.24, and Megaport Ltd declined 3.52% to 7.13. Overall, declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 615 to 460, with 462 unchanged.
In commodities, February Gold Futures slipped 0.39% to $2,644.41 per ounce. Crude oil for February delivery dropped 0.46% to $73.62 per barrel, while March Brent oil fell 0.44% to $76.17. The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, a measure of market volatility, rose 2.08% to 11.02.