Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.32% By Investing.com

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

At the close in Sydney, the gained 0.32%.

The best performers of the session on the were Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:), which rose 3.23% or 0.65 points to trade at 20.76 at the close. Meanwhile, Telstra Corporation Ltd. (ASX:) added 3.09% or 0.12 points to end at 4.00 and TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX:) was up 2.96% or 0.17 points to 5.92 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:), which fell 22.03% or 0.65 points to trade at 2.30 at the close. Origin Energy Ltd (ASX:) declined 13.72% or 0.94 points to end at 5.91 and Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:) was down 12.46% or 0.37 points to 2.60.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 964 to 435 and 393 ended unchanged.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 6.77% to 14.35 a new 1-month low.

Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.73% or 13.55 to $1,834.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 0.78% or 0.89 to hit $115.56 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 1.07% or 1.24 to trade at $116.84 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.49% to 0.72, while AUD/JPY rose 1.08% to 93.32.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.25% at 102.03.