Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Metals & Mining, Healthcare and Materials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.61%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Technology One Ltd (AX:TNE), which rose 5.70% or 0.270 points to trade at 5.010 at the close. Meanwhile, Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (AX:APT) added 4.79% or 0.500 points to end at 10.940 and Bega Cheese Ltd (AX:BGA) was up 4.03% or 0.310 points to 8.010 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Navitas Ltd (AX:NVT), which fell 3.55% or 0.150 points to trade at 4.080 at the close. Beach Energy Ltd (AX:BPT) declined 2.76% or 0.050 points to end at 1.760 and Oil Search Ltd (AX:OSH) was down 2.39% or 0.210 points to 8.590.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 720 to 502 and 350 ended unchanged.
Shares in Navitas Ltd (AX:NVT) fell to 52-week lows; falling 3.55% or 0.150 to 4.080. Shares in Bega Cheese Ltd (AX:BGA) rose to all time highs; gaining 4.03% or 0.310 to 8.010.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.12% to 12.464.
Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.23% or 2.80 to $1224.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September fell 0.61% or 0.41 to hit $66.75 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 0.64% or 0.46 to trade at $71.70 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.32% to 0.7365, while AUD/JPY fell 0.22% to 83.23.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.20% at 94.92.