Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.30%

Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Energy, Gold and Resources sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.30%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC), which rose 11.49% or 0.78 points to trade at 7.57 at the close. Meanwhile, St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) added 8.11% or 0.02 points to end at 0.20 and Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX:TWE) was up 4.98% or 0.58 points to 12.23 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Credit Corp Group Ltd (ASX:CCP), which fell 30.53% or 5.26 points to trade at 11.97 at the close. Bapcor Ltd (ASX:BAP) declined 7.61% or 0.45 points to end at 5.46 and Hub24 Ltd (ASX:HUB) was down 5.42% or 1.82 points to 31.77.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 601 to 551 and 391 ended unchanged.

Shares in Credit Corp Group Ltd (ASX:CCP) fell to 3-years lows; losing 30.53% or 5.26 to 11.97. Shares in Bapcor Ltd (ASX:BAP) fell to 3-years lows; down 7.61% or 0.45 to 5.46.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 2.02% to 12.30.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.78% or 15.05 to $1,950.75 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 2.00% or 1.71 to hit $87.15 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 1.78% or 1.60 to trade at $91.50 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.37% to 0.64, while AUD/JPY rose 0.29% to 95.64.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.09% at 105.95.