Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Metals & Mining, Materials and Resources sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.32%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX:MIN), which rose 5.01% or 3.40 points to trade at 71.32 at the close. Meanwhile, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) added 4.33% or 0.90 points to end at 21.70 and Nuix Ltd (ASX:NXL) was up 4.27% or 0.04 points to 0.85 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Appen Ltd (ASX:APX), which fell 9.87% or 0.31 points to trade at 2.83 at the close. CSL Ltd (ASX:CSL) declined 6.89% or 21.27 points to end at 287.25 and Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:CUV) was down 4.33% or 0.82 points to 18.13.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 693 to 638 and 449 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 1.67% to 11.59.
Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.21% or 4.05 to $1,962.65 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 0.86% or 0.60 to hit $70.02 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 0.97% or 0.72 to trade at $75.01 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.25% to 0.68, while AUD/JPY rose 0.04% to 94.92.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.10% at 102.82.