Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Gold, Metals & Mining and Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.66% to hit a new 6-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Northern Star Resources Ltd (AX:NST), which rose 7.89% or 0.330 points to trade at 4.510 at the close. Bellamys Australia Ltd (AX:BAL) added 6.23% or 0.700 points to end at 11.930 and Woolworths Ltd (AX:WOW) was up 5.41% or 1.170 points to 22.790 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Ozforex Grp (AX:OFX), which lost 3.25% or 0.075 points to trade at 2.235 in late trade. Austal Ltd (AX:ASB) declined 3.01% or 0.045 points to end at 1.450 and Flight Centre Ltd (AX:FLT) shed 2.82% or 1.140 points to 39.260.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 643 to 421 and 336 ended unchanged on the Sydney Stock Exchange.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 0.33% to 18.124.
In commodities trading, Gold for June delivery was up 0.73% or 9.20 to $1274.00 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in June fell 0.43% or 0.19 to hit $44.47 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract fell 0.33% or 0.15 to trade at $45.37 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.01% to 0.7364, while AUD/JPY fell 0.51% to 80.04.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.17% at 94.06.