Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Energy, Resources and Metals & Mining sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.28%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Polynovo Ltd (ASX:PNV), which rose 7.27% or 0.08 points to trade at 1.18 at the close. Meanwhile, Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) added 6.20% or 0.45 points to end at 7.71 and Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX:WPL) was up 6.14% or 1.76 points to 30.44 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH), which fell 11.75% or 0.49 points to trade at 3.68 at the close. Janus Henderson Group PLC DRC (ASX:JHG) declined 7.30% or 3.40 points to end at 43.20 and Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX:MFG) was down 6.43% or 1.14 points to 16.60.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 808 to 657 and 341 ended unchanged.
Shares in Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX:WPL) rose to 52-week highs; up 6.14% or 1.76 to 30.44.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 0.99% to 16.80.
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.12% or 2.25 to $1,946.05 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 7.48% or 7.73 to hit $111.14 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 7.38% or 7.75 to trade at $112.72 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.14% to 0.73, while AUD/JPY rose 0.34% to 83.57.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.15% at 97.55.