Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Gold, Energy and A-REITs sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.61% to hit a new 52-week high.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS), which rose 6.36% or 0.070 points to trade at 1.170 at the close. Meanwhile, Incitec Pivot Ltd (ASX:IPL) added 5.60% or 0.150 points to end at 2.830 and Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX:RSG) was up 5.49% or 0.025 points to 0.480 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Adelaide Brighton Ltd (ASX:ABC), which fell 5.01% or 0.180 points to trade at 3.410 at the close. Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd (ASX:CWY) declined 4.71% or 0.120 points to end at 2.430 and Zip Co Ltd (ASX:Z1P) was down 3.92% or 0.33 points to 8.09.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 699 to 602 and 410 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 20.66% to 11.086 a new 3-months low.
Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.15% or 2.70 to $1740.30 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 0.29% or 0.17 to hit $59.50 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 0.32% or 0.20 to trade at $62.94 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.37% to 0.7633, while AUD/JPY fell 0.26% to 83.86.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.03% at 92.380.