Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Financials, Consumer Discretionary and Consumer Staples sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.25% to hit a new 1-month high.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Virgin Money PLC (ASX:VUK), which rose 6.25% or 0.09 points to trade at 1.45 at the close. Meanwhile, AP Eagers Ltd (ASX:APE) added 5.29% or 0.56 points to end at 11.15 and Seven Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:SVW) was up 5.15% or 0.980 points to 20.000 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX:NCM), which fell 2.12% or 0.660 points to trade at 30.400 at the close. Healius Ltd (ASX:HLS) declined 1.98% or 0.070 points to end at 3.470 and Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX:RSG) was down 1.56% or 0.015 points to 0.945.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 723 to 515 and 355 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 0.26% to 20.198.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.77% or 14.70 to $1894.10 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November fell 0.98% or 0.40 to hit $40.27 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract fell 0.68% or 0.29 to trade at $42.36 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.44% to 0.7135, while AUD/JPY rose 0.57% to 75.45.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.05% at 93.787.