Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Energy, A-REITs and IT sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 6.43% to hit a new 3-years low.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Collins Foods Ltd (ASX:CKF), which rose 15.01% or 0.65 points to trade at 4.98 at the close. Meanwhile, St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) added 8.95% or 0.175 points to end at 2.130 and Spark Infrastructure Group (ASX:SKI) was up 8.94% or 0.160 points to 1.950 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT), which fell 33.05% or 6.30 points to trade at 12.76 at the close. National Storage REIT (ASX:NSR) declined 28.06% or 0.505 points to end at 1.295 and EML Payments Ltd (ASX:EML) was down 23.76% or 0.48 points to 1.54.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 879 to 372 and 272 ended unchanged.
Shares in Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT) fell to 52-week lows; falling 33.05% or 6.30 to 12.76. Shares in National Storage REIT (ASX:NSR) fell to 5-year lows; down 28.06% or 0.505 to 1.295. Shares in EML Payments Ltd (ASX:EML) fell to 52-week lows; losing 23.76% or 0.48 to 1.54.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 12.12% to 53.095 a new 5-year high.
Gold Futures for April delivery was down 1.09% or 16.70 to $1509.10 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 2.49% or 0.68 to hit $26.65 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 1.60% or 0.46 to trade at $28.27 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.07% to 0.5994, while AUD/JPY fell 0.69% to 64.14.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.20% at 99.605.