Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Consumer Discretionary, IT and Telecoms Services sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.23%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1), which rose 7.32% or 0.45 points to trade at 6.60 at the close. Meanwhile, Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH) added 5.37% or 0.13 points to end at 2.55 and Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) was up 5.36% or 0.12 points to 2.36 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Woodside Energy Ltd (ASX:WDS), which fell 2.90% or 0.90 points to trade at 30.10 at the close. Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX:VEA) declined 2.85% or 0.08 points to end at 2.73 and Perenti Global Ltd (ASX:PRN) was down 2.48% or 0.02 points to 0.59.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 670 to 606 and 385 ended unchanged.
Shares in Perenti Global Ltd (ASX:PRN) fell to 52-week lows; losing 2.48% or 0.02 to 0.59.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.50% to 17.60.
Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.09% or 1.55 to $1,723.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 1.21% or 1.16 to hit $97.00 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 1.24% or 1.23 to trade at $100.72 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.15% to 0.68, while AUD/JPY rose 0.35% to 92.80.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.26% at 108.19.