Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.70% 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 rose 0.70% to hit a new 3-months high.

The best performers of the session on the were Nuix Ltd (ASX:), which rose 7.25% or 0.05 points to trade at 0.74 at the close. Meanwhile, Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:) added 5.60% or 0.51 points to end at 9.62 and Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX:) was up 5.28% or 0.31 points to 6.18 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Polynovo Ltd (ASX:), which fell 8.85% or 0.19 points to trade at 1.90 at the close. Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX:) declined 6.66% or 3.84 points to end at 53.84 and Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX:) was down 5.56% or 0.16 points to 2.72.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 688 to 582 and 403 ended unchanged.

Shares in Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX:) rose to 52-week highs; up 5.28% or 0.31 to 6.18.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.19% to 13.33 a new 1-month low.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.24% or 4.25 to $1,744.15 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.74% or 0.60 to hit $81.55 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 0.74% or 0.65 to trade at $89.01 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.23% to 0.67, while AUD/JPY rose 0.18% to 94.07.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.29% at 106.80.