Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Metals & Mining, Resources and Gold sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.09% to hit a new 3-months low.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Cochlear Ltd (ASX:COH), which rose 6.60% or 5.220 points to trade at 84.370 at the close. Meanwhile, UGL Ltd (ASX:UGL) added 5.83% or 0.130 points to end at 2.360 and Transpacific Industries Group Ltd (ASX:TPI) was up 5.11% or 0.035 points to 0.720 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Cardno Ltd (ASX:CDD), which fell 27.33% or 0.940 points to trade at 2.500 at the close. Arrium Ltd (ASX:ARI) declined 8.33% or 0.015 points to end at 0.165 and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) was down 6.76% or 0.150 points to 2.070.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 514 to 508 and 169 ended unchanged.
Shares in Cardno Ltd (ASX:CDD) fell to 5-year lows; down 27.33% or 0.940 to 2.500.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.35% to 17.412.
Gold for June delivery was down 0.13% or 1.60 to $1205.10 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 0.66% or 0.39 to hit $58.38 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 0.74% or 0.47 to trade at $64.50 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.27% to 0.7893, while AUD/JPY fell 0.01% to 95.51.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.44% at 95.79.