Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Financials, A-REITs and Utilities sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.86%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Cimic Group Ltd (AX:CIM), which rose 6.16% or 2.390 points to trade at 41.190 at the close. Meanwhile, ANZ Banking Group (AX:ANZ) added 4.13% or 1.170 points to end at 29.470 and Westpac Banking Corporation (AX:WBC) was up 3.85% or 1.185 points to 31.955 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were St Barbara Ltd (AX:SBM), which fell 6.72% or 0.180 points to trade at 2.500 at the close. Orocobre Ltd (AX:ORE) declined 5.34% or 0.190 points to end at 3.370 and Nextdc Ltd (AX:NXT) was down 4.25% or 0.190 points to 4.280.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 556 to 550 and 333 ended unchanged.
Shares in Cimic Group Ltd (AX:CIM) rose to 5-year highs; gaining 6.16% or 2.390 to 41.190.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 1.44% to 13.199.
Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.25% or 3.13 to $1238.77 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 0.43% or 0.20 to hit $46.20 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 0.39% or 0.19 to trade at $48.65 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.23% to 0.7934, while AUD/JPY rose 0.30% to 88.99.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.14% at 94.58.