Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Energy, IT and Resources sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.69%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Bradken Ltd (ASX:BKN), which rose 13.45% or 0.150 points to trade at 1.265 at the close. Meanwhile, Drillsearch Energy Ltd (ASX:DLS) added 12.40% or 0.075 points to end at 0.680 and Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC) was up 11.68% or 0.115 points to 1.100 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Greencross Ltd (ASX:GXL), which fell 13.51% or 0.950 points to trade at 6.080 at the close. Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX:PDN) declined 5.71% or 0.010 points to end at 0.165 and UGL Ltd (ASX:UGL) was down 4.81% or 0.090 points to 1.780.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 531 to 429 and 164 ended unchanged.
Shares in Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX:PDN) fell to 5-year lows; falling 5.71% or 0.010 to 0.165.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 12.42% to 27.313.
Gold for December delivery was down 0.19% or 2.20 to $1136.10 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 0.67% or 0.27 to hit $39.58 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 0.78% or 0.34 to trade at $43.55 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.21% to 0.7115, while AUD/JPY rose 0.34% to 85.01.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.22% at 94.12.