Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Metals & Mining, Resources and Gold sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.21%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Bellamys Australia Ltd (AX:BAL), which rose 9.67% or 0.740 points to trade at 8.390 at the close. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (AX:FMG) added 7.36% or 0.370 points to end at 5.400 and Pilbara Minerals Ltd (AX:PLS) was up 5.51% or 0.035 points to 0.670 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Syrah Resources Ltd (AX:SYR), which lost 13.43% or 0.270 points to trade at 1.740 in late trade. G.U.D. Holdings Ltd (AX:GUD) declined 9.02% or 1.100 points to end at 11.100 and Credit Corp Group Ltd (AX:CCP) shed 6.67% or 1.520 points to 21.260.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 594 to 533 and 376 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 down 0.73% to 13.326.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.38% or 4.95 to $1313.85 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 0.15% or 0.08 to hit $53.39 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 0.23% or 0.14 to trade at $61.34 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.65% to 0.7199, while AUD/JPY rose 0.56% to 78.67.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.10% at 95.417.