Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Metals & Mining, IT and Materials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.47% to hit a new 1-month high.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Nextdc Ltd (ASX:NXT), which rose 8.09% or 0.90 points to trade at 12.02 at the close. Meanwhile, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) added 7.69% or 0.31 points to end at 4.34 and Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) was up 7.01% or 0.48 points to 7.33 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS), which fell 4.07% or 0.15 points to trade at 3.54 at the close. Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC) declined 3.17% or 0.22 points to end at 6.73 and Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) was down 2.43% or 0.03 points to 1.01.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 660 to 631 and 426 ended unchanged.
Shares in Nextdc Ltd (ASX:NXT) rose to 52-week highs; rising 8.09% or 0.90 to 12.02.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 0.74% to 13.91.
Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.42% or 8.55 to $2,027.55 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 0.18% or 0.15 to hit $81.68 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 0.23% or 0.20 to trade at $85.81 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.14% to 0.67, while AUD/JPY rose 0.17% to 89.08.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.13% at 101.75.