Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Consumer Staples, Healthcare and Industrials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.51%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were EML Payments Ltd (ASX:EML), which rose 5.44% or 0.07 points to trade at 1.26 at the close. Meanwhile, Brambles Ltd (ASX:BXB) added 3.47% or 0.54 points to end at 16.09 and AMP Ltd (ASX:AMP) was up 3.11% or 0.04 points to 1.16 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Platinum Asset Management Ltd (ASX:PTM), which fell 20.69% or 0.27 points to trade at 1.03 at the close. St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) declined 4.41% or 0.01 points to end at 0.16 and Premier Investments Ltd (ASX:PMV) was down 3.06% or 0.98 points to 31.02.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 576 to 563 and 356 ended unchanged.
Shares in EML Payments Ltd (ASX:EML) rose to 52-week highs; up 5.44% or 0.07 to 1.26. Shares in Brambles Ltd (ASX:BXB) rose to all time highs; rising 3.47% or 0.54 to 16.09.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 4.70% to 10.06 a new 3-months low.
Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.06% or 1.30 to $2,175.90 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 0.85% or 0.69 to hit $80.93 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 0.83% or 0.71 to trade at $84.92 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.08% to 0.65, while AUD/JPY fell 0.05% to 98.97.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.08% at 104.07.