Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the IT, Financials and Utilities sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 1.53%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Mayne Pharma Group Ltd (ASX:MYX), which rose 18.87% or 0.100 points to trade at 0.630 at the close. Meanwhile, Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:CUV) added 3.31% or 0.820 points to end at 25.610 and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX:NST) was up 2.82% or 0.310 points to 11.320 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Hub24 Ltd (ASX:HUB), which fell 7.09% or 0.860 points to trade at 11.270 at the close. Galaxy Resources Ltd (ASX:GXY) declined 5.12% or 0.055 points to end at 1.020 and Bega Cheese Ltd (ASX:BGA) was down 5.01% or 0.240 points to 4.550.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 770 to 409 and 319 ended unchanged.
Shares in Galaxy Resources Ltd (ASX:GXY) fell to 3-years lows; down 5.12% or 0.055 to 1.020.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 14.07% to 14.430 a new 1-month high.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.51% or 7.55 to $1481.45 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 1.29% or 0.69 to hit $54.31 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 0.83% or 0.49 to trade at $59.38 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.05% to 0.6705, while AUD/JPY rose 0.09% to 72.28.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.12% at 98.893.