Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.31%

Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Healthcare, A-REITs and Financials sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.31% to hit a new 1-month high.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP), which rose 6.25% or 0.03 points to trade at 0.51 at the close. Meanwhile, Polynovo Ltd (ASX:PNV) added 5.12% or 0.08 points to end at 1.54 and Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX:SGR) was up 4.35% or 0.02 points to 0.48 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Appen Ltd (ASX:APX), which fell 12.50% or 0.09 points to trade at 0.59 at the close. Platinum Asset Management Ltd (ASX:PTM) declined 4.56% or 0.06 points to end at 1.25 and Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:CUV) was down 4.51% or 0.77 points to 16.30.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 636 to 559 and 404 ended unchanged.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 1.37% to 9.92.

Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.03% or 0.50 to $1,993.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 0.12% or 0.08 to hit $68.53 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 0.16% or 0.12 to trade at $73.12 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.04% to 0.66, while AUD/JPY rose 0.03% to 95.44.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.01% at 103.47.