Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Gold, Energy and Utilities sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.03%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Ozforex Grp (AX:OFX), which rose 7.81% or 0.105 points to trade at 1.450 at the close. Meanwhile, Orocobre Ltd (AX:ORE) added 7.51% or 0.280 points to end at 4.010 and Beach Energy Ltd (AX:BPT) was up 6.49% or 0.050 points to 0.820 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Aconex Ltd (AX:ACX), which fell 5.17% or 0.250 points to trade at 4.590 at the close. M Pharma Fp (AX:MYX) declined 4.86% or 0.080 points to end at 1.565 and Retail Food Group Ltd (AX:RFG) was down 4.68% or 0.300 points to 6.110.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 554 to 481 and 300 ended unchanged.
Shares in Beach Energy Ltd (AX:BPT) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 6.49% or 0.050 to 0.820.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 5.22% to 14.280.
Gold for December delivery was up 0.43% or 5.30 to $1229.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 0.26% or 0.12 to hit $45.93 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 0.36% or 0.17 to trade at $47.12 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.21% to 0.7544, while AUD/JPY fell 0.32% to 82.28.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.18% at 100.02.