Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Industrials, Healthcare and Consumer Discretionary sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.04%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Asciano Ltd (ASX:AIO), which rose 16.84% or 1.120 points to trade at 7.770 at the close. Meanwhile, Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX:PDN) added 8.16% or 0.020 points to end at 0.265 and Tassal Group Ltd (ASX:TGR) was up 8.11% or 0.270 points to 3.600 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Ten Network Holdings Ltd (ASX:TEN), which fell 5.26% or 0.010 points to trade at 0.180 at the close. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) declined 4.19% or 0.080 points to end at 1.830 and Southern Cross Media Group Ltd (ASX:SXL) was down 4.12% or 0.040 points to 0.930.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 634 to 333 and 138 ended unchanged.
Shares in Asciano Ltd (ASX:AIO) rose to 5-year highs; up 16.84% or 1.120 to 7.770. Shares in Ten Network Holdings Ltd (ASX:TEN) fell to 5-year lows; losing 5.26% or 0.010 to 0.180.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 7.06% to 18.497.
Gold for August delivery was up 0.13% or 1.50 to $1173.30 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 1.46% or 0.87 to hit $58.60 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract fell 1.21% or 0.77 to trade at $62.82 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.16% to 0.7716, while AUD/JPY rose 0.23% to 94.64.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.12% at 95.87.