Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Metals & Mining, Resources and Materials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 2.01%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC), which rose 4.31% or 0.050 points to trade at 1.210 at the close. Meanwhile, Resmed Inc (ASX:RMD) added 2.56% or 0.190 points to end at 7.600 and M Pharma Fp (ASX:MYX) was up 2.40% or 0.025 points to 1.065 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX:PDN), which fell 12.24% or 0.030 points to trade at 0.215 at the close. Sirius Resources NL (ASX:SIR) declined 8.04% or 0.270 points to end at 3.090 and Western Areas Ltd (ASX:WSA) was down 6.86% or 0.210 points to 2.850.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 676 to 314 and 160 ended unchanged.
Shares in Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX:PDN) fell to 5-year lows; losing 12.24% or 0.030 to 0.215. Shares in Western Areas Ltd (ASX:WSA) fell to 52-week lows; losing 6.86% or 0.210 to 2.850.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 11.44% to 19.833.
Gold for August delivery was down 0.49% or 5.60 to $1147.00 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 1.20% or 0.63 to hit $51.70 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract fell 1.07% or 0.61 to trade at $56.24 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.89% to 0.7386, while AUD/JPY fell 1.54% to 89.92.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.09% at 96.80.