Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the IT, Telecoms Services and Gold sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 1.04%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB), which rose 16.99% or 0.18 points to trade at 1.21 at the close. Meanwhile, Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX:RSG) added 8.20% or 0.03 points to end at 0.33 and Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX:GOR) was up 7.74% or 0.13 points to 1.81 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX:NIC), which fell 22.71% or 0.34 points to trade at 1.14 at the close. Boral Ltd. (ASX:BLD) declined 3.26% or 0.11 points to end at 3.26 and Altium Ltd (ASX:ALU) was down 3.00% or 0.97 points to 31.41.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 971 to 457 and 371 ended unchanged.
Shares in Boral Ltd. (ASX:BLD) fell to 52-week lows; falling 3.26% or 0.11 to 3.26. Shares in Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX:GOR) rose to 52-week highs; rising 7.74% or 0.13 to 1.81.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 11.28% to 16.80.
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.42% or 8.50 to $2,051.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 1.12% or 1.39 to hit $125.09 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 1.39% or 1.78 to trade at $129.76 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.40% to 0.73, while AUD/JPY rose 0.55% to 84.50.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.10% at 98.98.