Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Consumer Staples, Healthcare and Industrials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.24%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Vocus Fpo (AX:VOC), which rose 9.20% or 0.405 points to trade at 4.805 at the close. Mcmillan Shakespeare Ltd (AX:MMS) added 8.13% or 0.870 points to end at 11.570 and Fairfax Media Ltd (AX:FXJ) was up 8.05% or 0.070 points to 0.940 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Isentia Group Ltd (AX:ISD), which lost 35.25% or 0.980 points to trade at 1.800 in late trade. Blackmores Ltd (AX:BKL) declined 10.22% or 11.920 points to end at 104.660 and Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd (AX:SAR) shed 6.91% or 0.085 points to 1.145.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 563 to 547 and 333 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 0.16% to 11.131.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.22% or 2.75 to $1236.15 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 0.35% or 0.19 to hit $54.52 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 0.44% or 0.25 to trade at $56.91 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.26% to 0.7695, while AUD/JPY rose 0.08% to 87.32.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.12% at 101.33.