Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 1.21%

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 1.21%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were EML Payments Ltd (ASX:EML), which rose 9.69% or 0.10 points to trade at 1.07 at the close. Meanwhile, Healius Ltd (ASX:HLS) added 7.75% or 0.21 points to end at 2.92 and Brambles Ltd (ASX:BXB) was up 7.07% or 1.00 points to 15.15 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Boral Ltd. (ASX:BLD), which fell 7.95% or 0.40 points to trade at 4.63 at the close. Adbri Ltd (ASX:ABC) declined 5.98% or 0.14 points to end at 2.20 and Flight Centre Ltd (ASX:FLT) was down 2.81% or 0.62 points to 21.46.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 762 to 495 and 416 ended unchanged.

Shares in EML Payments Ltd (ASX:EML) rose to 52-week highs; up 9.69% or 0.10 to 1.07. Shares in Brambles Ltd (ASX:BXB) rose to all time highs; rising 7.07% or 1.00 to 15.15.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 1.73% to 11.85.

Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.08% or 1.55 to $1,963.55 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 0.58% or 0.47 to hit $81.63 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 0.44% or 0.37 to trade at $85.28 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.26% to 0.65, while AUD/JPY rose 0.15% to 94.67.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.08% at 103.55.