Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Consumer Staples, Telecoms Services and Financials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.03%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Appen Ltd (ASX:APX), which rose 21.65% or 0.11 points to trade at 0.59 at the close. Meanwhile, Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) added 14.38% or 0.12 points to end at 0.92 and Nextdc Ltd (ASX:NXT) was up 13.39% or 2.03 points to 17.19 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Healius Ltd (ASX:HLS), which fell 6.72% or 0.09 points to trade at 1.18 at the close. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) declined 5.52% or 1.52 points to end at 26.00 and Reece Ltd (ASX:REH) was down 4.25% or 1.21 points to 27.29.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 598 to 574 and 344 ended unchanged.
Shares in Healius Ltd (ASX:HLS) fell to 5-year lows; losing 6.72% or 0.09 to 1.18. Shares in Nextdc Ltd (ASX:NXT) rose to all time highs; rising 13.39% or 2.03 to 17.19.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 0.57% to 11.07.
Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.22% or 4.55 to $2,039.55 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 0.39% or 0.31 to hit $78.56 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 0.35% or 0.29 to trade at $82.37 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.43% to 0.65, while AUD/JPY fell 0.34% to 98.15.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.13% at 103.89.