Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Energy, Resources and Materials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.46%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Pacific Brands Ltd (ASX:PBG), which rose 9.88% or 0.043 points to trade at 0.472 at the close. Meanwhile, Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX:MYR) added 8.78% or 0.115 points to end at 1.425 and Karoon Gas Australia Ltd (ASX:KAR) was up 8.22% or 0.180 points to 2.370 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Regis Healthcare Ltd (ASX:REG), which fell 3.24% or 0.190 points to trade at 5.670 at the close. Asaleo Care (ASX:AHY) declined 2.88% or 0.055 points to end at 1.855 and Slater & Gordon Ltd (ASX:SGH) was down 2.60% or 0.200 points to 7.490.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 544 to 425 and 204 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 2.85% to 14.028.
Gold for June delivery was down 0.01% or 0.10 to $1210.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 1.96% or 1.06 to hit $52.92 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 0.89% or 0.53 to trade at $58.33 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.52% to 0.7673, while AUD/JPY rose 0.15% to 91.96.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.40% at 97.85.