Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Financials, Industrials and Consumer Staples sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.48%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (AX:APT), which rose 5.61% or 0.530 points to trade at 9.970 at the close. Meanwhile, Resolute Mining Ltd (AX:RSG) added 5.17% or 0.068 points to end at 1.373 and Iluka Resources Ltd (AX:ILU) was up 4.29% or 0.460 points to 11.180 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Platinum Asset Management Ltd (AX:PTM), which fell 8.86% or 0.520 points to trade at 5.350 at the close. Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia Ltd (AX:GMA) declined 8.17% or 0.215 points to end at 2.415 and Magellan Financial Group Ltd (AX:MFG) was down 5.98% or 1.420 points to 22.310.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 674 to 515 and 366 ended unchanged.
Shares in Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (AX:APT) rose to all time highs; up 5.61% or 0.530 to 9.970. Shares in Resolute Mining Ltd (AX:RSG) rose to 52-week highs; rising 5.17% or 0.068 to 1.373.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 6.75% to 12.693.
Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.44% or 5.50 to $1259.00 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 0.36% or 0.27 to hit $74.41 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.31% or 0.24 to trade at $78.00 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.19% to 0.7400, while AUD/JPY rose 0.02% to 81.69.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.07% at 94.25.