Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Gold, Industrials and Energy sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.47% to hit a new all time high.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM), which rose 8.12% or 0.220 points to trade at 2.930 at the close. Meanwhile, Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX:EVN) added 5.77% or 0.210 points to end at 3.850 and Elders Ltd (ASX:ELD) was up 5.74% or 0.390 points to 7.180 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS), which fell 7.69% or 0.030 points to trade at 0.360 at the close. Orocobre Ltd (ASX:ORE) declined 5.54% or 0.210 points to end at 3.580 and Western Areas Ltd (ASX:WSA) was down 3.74% or 0.110 points to 2.830.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 658 to 489 and 331 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 0.80% to 11.099.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.44% or 6.75 to $1551.35 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.21% or 0.12 to hit $58.11 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.23% or 0.15 to trade at $64.34 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.02% to 0.6898, while AUD/JPY fell 0.09% to 75.83.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.02% at 97.075.