Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Consumer Staples and IT sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.02%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Blackmores Ltd (AX:BKL), which rose 10.92% or 10.70 points to trade at 108.69 at the close. Meanwhile, Syrah Resources Ltd (AX:SYR) added 9.19% or 0.250 points to end at 2.970 and Graincorp Ltd (AX:GNC) was up 5.99% or 0.490 points to 8.670 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd (AX:NEC), which fell 7.93% or 0.12 points to trade at 1.33 at the close. Telstra Corporation Ltd. (AX:TLS) declined 5.73% or 0.220 points to end at 3.620 and Ramsay Health Care Ltd (AX:RHC) was down 5.27% or 3.790 points to 68.090.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 608 to 553 and 363 ended unchanged.
Shares in Telstra Corporation Ltd. (AX:TLS) fell to 5-year lows; falling 5.73% or 0.220 to 3.620.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.62% to 13.036.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.33% or 4.31 to $1314.59 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 0.22% or 0.10 to hit $46.34 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract fell 0.35% or 0.18 to trade at $51.48 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.34% to 0.7979, while AUD/JPY rose 0.42% to 87.62.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.04% at 92.31.