Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Gold, Metals & Mining and Resources sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.52%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Bradken Ltd (ASX:BKN), which rose 5.15% or 0.095 points to trade at 1.940 at the close. Meanwhile, Ansell Ltd (ASX:ANN) added 4.90% or 1.35 points to end at 28.90 and Mermaid Marine Australia Ltd (ASX:MRM) was up 4.55% or 0.030 points to 0.690 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Southern Cross Media Group Ltd (ASX:SXL), which fell 7.83% or 0.090 points to trade at 1.060 at the close. Western Areas Ltd (ASX:WSA) declined 7.56% or 0.270 points to end at 3.300 and Sirius Resources NL (ASX:SIR) was down 7.33% or 0.200 points to 2.530.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 352 to 218 and 48 ended unchanged.
Shares in Ansell Ltd (ASX:ANN) rose to 5-year highs; gaining 4.90% or 1.35 to 28.90. Shares in Western Areas Ltd (ASX:WSA) fell to 52-week lows; down 7.56% or 0.270 to 3.300.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 3.89% to 14.827.
Gold for June delivery was up 0.35% or 4.20 to $1187.40 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 0.58% or 0.28 to hit $47.33 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 0.58% or 0.32 to trade at $54.88 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.30% to 0.7628, while AUD/JPY rose 0.02% to 91.39.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.27% at 98.42.