Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Metals & Mining, Resources and Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.19%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were A2 Milk Company Ltd (AX:A2M), which rose 9.25% or 0.185 points to trade at 2.185 at the close. Western Areas Ltd (AX:WSA) added 7.75% or 0.245 points to end at 3.405 and Sandfire Resources NL (AX:SFR) was up 5.90% or 0.350 points to 6.280 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Bellamys Australia Ltd (AX:BAL), which lost 19.76% or 1.320 points to trade at 5.360 in late trade. Platinum Asset Management Ltd (AX:PTM) declined 3.18% or 0.170 points to end at 5.180 and Breville Group Ltd (AX:BRG) shed 3.06% or 0.270 points to 8.560.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 553 to 510 and 349 ended unchanged on the Sydney Stock Exchange.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 0.28% to 13.092 a new 1-month high.
In commodities trading, Gold for February delivery was up 0.25% or 2.95 to $1188.45 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.26% or 0.13 to hit $50.95 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 0.13% or 0.07 to trade at $53.71 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.04% to 0.7372, while AUD/JPY rose 0.29% to 85.56.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.11% at 102.12.