Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Energy, Consumer Staples and Financials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.45%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Ainsworth Game Technology Ltd (ASX:AGI), which rose 14.23% or 0.400 points to trade at 3.210 at the close. Meanwhile, Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX:TWE) added 13.43% or 0.740 points to end at 6.250 and Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC) was up 12.67% or 0.140 points to 1.245 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Seek Ltd (ASX:SEK), which fell 10.96% or 1.510 points to trade at 12.270 at the close. Pacific Brands Ltd (ASX:PBG) declined 5.95% or 0.025 points to end at 0.395 and Senex Energy Ltd (ASX:SXY) was down 5.88% or 0.010 points to 0.160.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 505 to 491 and 162 ended unchanged.
Shares in Seek Ltd (ASX:SEK) fell to 52-week lows; falling 10.96% or 1.510 to 12.270. Shares in Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX:TWE) rose to 52-week highs; rising 13.43% or 0.740 to 6.250. Shares in Senex Energy Ltd (ASX:SXY) fell to 3-years lows; losing 5.88% or 0.010 to 0.160.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 6.55% to 18.062.
Gold for December delivery was up 0.39% or 4.40 to $1121.30 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 0.54% or 0.23 to hit $42.88 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract fell 0.24% or 0.12 to trade at $48.70 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.13% to 0.7352, while AUD/JPY rose 0.02% to 91.36.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.20% at 96.79.