Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Gold, Consumer Staples and A-REITs sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.49%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Nufarm Ltd (ASX:NUF), which rose 7.38% or 0.310 points to trade at 4.510 at the close. Meanwhile, St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) added 4.35% or 0.130 points to end at 3.120 and Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd (ASX:SAR) was up 3.56% or 0.130 points to 3.780 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Speedcast International Ltd (ASX:SDA), which fell 16.50% or 0.340 points to trade at 1.720 at the close. Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) declined 6.37% or 0.130 points to end at 1.910 and Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) was down 6.31% or 0.035 points to 0.520.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 694 to 508 and 323 ended unchanged.
Shares in Speedcast International Ltd (ASX:SDA) fell to 3-years lows; losing 16.50% or 0.340 to 1.720. Shares in Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) fell to 52-week lows; falling 6.31% or 0.035 to 0.520.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 4.09% to 11.409 a new 1-month low.
Gold Futures for August delivery was up 1.50% or 21.05 to $1429.05 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 0.48% or 0.27 to hit $56.52 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.43% or 0.27 to trade at $62.67 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.00% to 0.6994, while AUD/JPY fell 0.24% to 75.27.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.08% at 96.352.