Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Healthcare, Telecoms Services and Utilities sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.31%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Metcash Ltd (ASX:MTS), which rose 3.53% or 0.100 points to trade at 2.930 at the close. Meanwhile, Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX:NST) added 3.30% or 0.390 points to end at 12.200 and Eclipx Group Ltd (ASX:ECX) was up 3.27% or 0.050 points to 1.580 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were CSR Ltd (ASX:CSR), which fell 6.55% or 0.260 points to trade at 3.710 at the close. Emeco Holdings Ltd (ASX:EHL) declined 5.34% or 0.105 points to end at 1.860 and Bravura Solutions Ltd (ASX:BVS) was down 4.62% or 0.220 points to 4.540.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 659 to 565 and 364 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 0.98% to 13.995 a new 1-month low.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.52% or 8.05 to $1547.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 0.72% or 0.39 to hit $54.33 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 0.60% or 0.35 to trade at $58.61 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.30% to 0.6777, while AUD/JPY rose 0.52% to 71.94.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.13% at 98.820.