Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Energy, Resources and IT sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.60%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Covermore Fpo (AX:CVO), which rose 11.49% or 0.143 points to trade at 1.383 at the close. Meanwhile, Evolution Mining Ltd (AX:EVN) added 6.68% or 0.185 points to end at 2.955 and St Barbara Ltd (AX:SBM) was up 5.24% or 0.175 points to 3.515 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Mesoblast Ltd (AX:MSB), which fell 6.20% or 0.075 points to trade at 1.135 at the close. CYBG PLC (AX:CYB) declined 5.43% or 0.210 points to end at 3.660 and Origin Energy Ltd (AX:ORG) was down 4.40% or 0.256 points to 5.564.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 582 to 451 and 293 ended unchanged.
Shares in Evolution Mining Ltd (AX:EVN) rose to 3-years highs; up 6.68% or 0.185 to 2.955. Shares in St Barbara Ltd (AX:SBM) rose to 5-year highs; rising 5.24% or 0.175 to 3.515.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 1.72% to 19.232.
Gold for August delivery was up 1.03% or 14.05 to $1372.75 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 0.28% or 0.13 to hit $46.73 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.38% or 0.18 to trade at $48.14 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.35% to 0.7436, while AUD/JPY fell 0.99% to 75.16.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.16% at 96.42.