Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Consumer Discretionary and Resources sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.45%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Galaxy Resources Ltd (AX:GXY), which rose 8.64% or 0.310 points to trade at 3.900 at the close. Meanwhile, Myer Holdings Ltd (AX:MYR) added 4.23% or 0.030 points to end at 0.740 and Seven West Media Ltd (AX:SWM) was up 4.13% or 0.025 points to 0.630 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Seek Ltd (AX:SEK), which fell 3.61% or 0.700 points to trade at 18.700 at the close. ALS Ltd (AX:ALQ) declined 3.37% or 0.240 points to end at 6.890 and Graincorp Ltd (AX:GNC) was down 1.94% or 0.150 points to 7.590.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 713 to 561 and 350 ended unchanged.
Shares in Graincorp Ltd (AX:GNC) fell to 52-week lows; losing 1.94% or 0.150 to 7.590.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 2.08% to 11.687.
Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.02% or 0.26 to $1295.16 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 0.52% or 0.30 to hit $57.69 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 0.62% or 0.39 to trade at $62.85 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.09% to 0.7588, while AUD/JPY fell 0.06% to 84.62.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.06% at 93.14.