Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Utilities, Energy and Industrials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.73%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX:RSG), which rose 6.42% or 0.035 points to trade at 0.580 at the close. Meanwhile, Nearmap Ltd (ASX:NEA) added 4.45% or 0.075 points to end at 1.760 and CSR Ltd (ASX:CSR) was up 4.23% or 0.250 points to 6.160 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were AusNet Services Ltd (ASX:AST), which fell 7.71% or 0.145 points to trade at 1.735 at the close. Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH) declined 6.26% or 0.79 points to end at 11.82 and Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) was down 5.53% or 0.070 points to 1.195.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 825 to 504 and 414 ended unchanged.
Shares in CSR Ltd (ASX:CSR) rose to 5-year highs; gaining 4.23% or 0.250 to 6.160.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 11.09% to 14.361 a new 1-month high.
Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.10% or 1.85 to $1834.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 0.86% or 0.56 to hit $65.84 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 0.82% or 0.56 to trade at $69.11 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.33% to 0.7814, while AUD/JPY fell 0.18% to 84.99.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.10% at 90.218.