Investing.com – Australia equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Gold, Metals & Mining and Resources sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.70% to hit a new 1-month low.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Southern Cross Media Group Ltd (AX:SXL), which rose 6.06% or 0.088 points to trade at 1.532 at the close. Programmed Maintenance Services Ltd (AX:PRG) added 4.70% or 0.095 points to end at 2.115 and Gateway Lifestyle Group (AX:GTY) was up 3.96% or 0.090 points to 2.360 in late trade.
Biggest losers included St Barbara Ltd (AX:SBM), which lost 7.24% or 0.220 points to trade at 2.820 in late trade. Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd (AX:SAR) declined 5.71% or 0.080 points to end at 1.320 and Evolution Mining Ltd (AX:EVN) shed 5.65% or 0.130 points to 2.170.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 658 to 427 and 339 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 3.92% to 13.561.
In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was up 0.03% or 0.35 to $1316.85 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 0.13% or 0.06 to hit $46.29 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract fell 0.16% or 0.08 to trade at $48.65 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.07% to 0.7515, while AUD/JPY rose 0.19% to 77.49.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.03% at 96.02.