Australian stocks closed higher on Friday, with gains in the IT, Financials and Telecoms Services sectors leading the S&P/ASX 200 up 0.59%. Austal Ltd (ASX:ASB) was the best performer, rising 26.02% or 0.41 points to 2.01. EML Payments Ltd (ASX:EML) and AUB Group Ltd (ASX:AUB) also saw strong gains, adding 6.25% and 5.88% respectively. On the other hand, Nufarm Ltd (ASX:NUF) was the worst performer, falling 4.63% or 0.28 points to 5.77.
In commodities, gold futures for June delivery rose 0.49% or 9.55 to $1,969.35 a troy ounce, while crude oil for June delivery rose 0.58% or 0.42 to hit $72.28 a barrel. The AUD/USD was unchanged at 0.66, while the AUD/JPY fell 0.08% to 91.78. The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.15% at 103.29.