Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Telecoms Services, Financials and Consumer Staples sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.36%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Platinum Asset Management Ltd (AX:PTM), which rose 11.17% or 0.545 points to trade at 5.425 at the close. Meanwhile, Whitehaven Coal Ltd (AX:WHC) added 3.54% or 0.080 points to end at 2.340 and Flexigroup Ltd (AX:FXL) was up 3.46% or 0.075 points to 2.245 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Seven West Media Ltd (AX:SWM), which fell 7.10% or 0.055 points to trade at 0.720 at the close. Santos Ltd (AX:STO) declined 5.65% or 0.210 points to end at 3.510 and CYBG PLC (AX:CYB) was down 5.29% or 0.245 points to 4.385.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 589 to 457 and 348 ended unchanged.
Shares in Whitehaven Coal Ltd (AX:WHC) rose to 3-years highs; up 3.54% or 0.080 to 2.340.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 9.17% to 16.704.
Gold for December delivery was up 0.09% or 1.25 to $1324.95 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 0.49% or 0.22 to hit $45.12 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 0.34% or 0.16 to trade at $47.26 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.20% to 0.7480, while AUD/JPY rose 0.55% to 77.00.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.01% at 95.55.