Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the A-REITs, Energy and Consumer Staples sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.09%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX:RSG), which rose 4.40% or 0.03 points to trade at 0.65 at the close. Meanwhile, Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX:WGX) added 4.21% or 0.11 points to end at 2.72 and Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX:RMS) was up 3.92% or 0.08 points to 1.99 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Iluka Resources Ltd (ASX:ILU), which fell 5.17% or 0.32 points to trade at 5.87 at the close. Flight Centre Ltd (ASX:FLT) declined 4.48% or 1.03 points to end at 21.98 and Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) was down 3.83% or 0.05 points to 1.26.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 614 to 494 and 454 ended unchanged.
Shares in Iluka Resources Ltd (ASX:ILU) fell to 3-years lows; losing 5.17% or 0.32 to 5.87.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 1.38% to 11.93.
Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.36% or 8.70 to $2,416.00 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 0.52% or 0.40 to hit $77.36 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.49% or 0.40 to trade at $81.41 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.35% to 0.66, while AUD/JPY fell 0.91% to 101.91.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.01% at 104.16.