Investing.com – Australia equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Energy, Resources and Consumer Discretionary sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.24% to hit a new 6-month low.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Healthscope (AX:HSO), which rose 20.79% or 0.370 points to trade at 2.150 at the close. Regis Resources Ltd (AX:RRL) added 5.53% or 0.230 points to end at 4.390 and Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd (AX:SAR) was up 5.00% or 0.120 points to 2.520 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Super Retail Group Ltd (AX:SUL), which lost 10.91% or 1.020 points to trade at 8.330 in late trade. Worleyparsons Ltd (AX:WOR) declined 6.55% or 1.108 points to end at 15.810 and Bellamys Australia Ltd (AX:BAL) shed 6.01% or 0.510 points to 7.980.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 746 to 439 and 368 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 3.52% to 17.508.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.06% or 0.70 to $1236.10 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 0.15% or 0.10 to hit $66.53 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 0.37% or 0.28 to trade at $76.72 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.21% to 0.7101, while AUD/JPY rose 0.33% to 79.92.
The US Dollar Index Futures was unchanged 0.00% at 95.75.