Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the A-REITs, Consumer Staples and Healthcare sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.10%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Bellamys Australia Ltd (AX:BAL), which rose 7.42% or 1.470 points to trade at 21.270 at the close. Meanwhile, A2 Milk Company Ltd (AX:A2M) added 5.17% or 0.600 points to end at 12.200 and Sandfire Resources NL (AX:SFR) was up 4.38% or 0.330 points to 7.860 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Retail Food Group Ltd (AX:RFG), which fell 8.60% or 0.080 points to trade at 0.850 at the close. G8 Education Ltd (AX:GEM) declined 4.23% or 0.110 points to end at 2.490 and Orocobre Ltd (AX:ORE) was down 3.51% or 0.190 points to 5.230.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 638 to 574 and 378 ended unchanged.
Shares in Retail Food Group Ltd (AX:RFG) fell to 5-year lows; losing 8.60% or 0.080 to 0.850. Shares in G8 Education Ltd (AX:GEM) fell to 3-years lows; falling 4.23% or 0.110 to 2.490.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 4.06% to 16.801 a new 1-month high.
Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.03% or 0.40 to $1337.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 0.33% or 0.21 to hit $63.30 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 0.35% or 0.24 to trade at $67.88 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.13% to 0.7695, while AUD/JPY rose 0.10% to 82.01.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.03% at 89.82.