Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Consumer Staples, Metals & Mining and Resources sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.83%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were ALS Ltd (ASX:ALQ), which rose 5.07% or 0.310 points to trade at 6.430 at the close. Meanwhile, Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX:NST) added 4.87% or 0.110 points to end at 2.370 and Adelaide Brighton Ltd (ASX:ABC) was up 4.80% or 0.220 points to 4.800 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (ASX:LNG), which fell 8.12% or 0.350 points to trade at 3.960 at the close. Ozforex Grp (ASX:OFX) declined 5.46% or 0.130 points to end at 2.250 and Karoon Gas Australia Ltd (ASX:KAR) was down 4.48% or 0.130 points to 2.770.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 594 to 413 and 181 ended unchanged.
Shares in Adelaide Brighton Ltd (ASX:ABC) rose to all time highs; gaining 4.80% or 0.220 to 4.800.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 2.88% to 15.524.
Gold for August delivery was up 0.15% or 1.80 to $1189.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 1.34% or 0.78 to hit $58.80 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 0.94% or 0.60 to trade at $64.32 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.36% to 0.7764, while AUD/JPY rose 0.26% to 95.47.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.32% at 97.08.