Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Gold, IT and Consumer Staples sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.78% to hit a new 1-month low.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC), which rose 5.45% or 0.24 points to trade at 4.64 at the close. Meanwhile, Downer Edi Ltd (ASX:DOW) added 4.72% or 0.24 points to end at 5.33 and Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) was up 3.39% or 0.23 points to 7.02 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Credit Corp Group Ltd (ASX:CCP), which fell 9.50% or 2.81 points to trade at 26.77 at the close. Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH) declined 8.61% or 0.26 points to end at 2.76 and EML Payments Ltd (ASX:EML) was down 5.71% or 0.10 points to 1.57.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 1001 to 464 and 383 ended unchanged.
Shares in Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH) fell to 52-week lows; losing 8.61% or 0.26 to 2.76. Shares in EML Payments Ltd (ASX:EML) fell to 52-week lows; falling 5.71% or 0.10 to 1.57.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 5.08% to 17.16 a new 1-month high.
Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.15% or 2.85 to $1,901.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 0.69% or 0.70 to hit $102.40 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 0.79% or 0.83 to trade at $105.44 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.44% to 0.72, while AUD/JPY rose 0.92% to 91.42.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.30% at 102.63.