Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Healthcare, IT and Utilities sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 2.31% to hit a new 1-month low.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Healius Ltd (ASX:HLS), which rose 15.58% or 0.430 points to trade at 3.190 at the close. Meanwhile, Invocare Ltd (ASX:IVC) added 13.57% or 1.73 points to end at 14.48 and Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd (ASX:NEC) was up 6.50% or 0.105 points to 1.720 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Polynovo Ltd (ASX:PNV), which fell 20.53% or 0.620 points to trade at 2.400 at the close. Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) declined 10.35% or 2.63 points to end at 22.77 and Jumbo Interactive Ltd (ASX:JIN) was down 9.13% or 1.10 points to 10.95.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 1093 to 215 and 263 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 11.53% to 19.250 a new 6-months high.
Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.25% or 4.05 to $1645.95 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 0.10% or 0.05 to hit $49.95 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 0.11% or 0.06 to trade at $54.20 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.29% to 0.6583, while AUD/JPY fell 0.16% to 72.67.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.11% at 99.013.