Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the IT, Consumer Discretionary and Gold sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.06% to hit a new 3-months high.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd (ASX:SAR), which rose 8.49% or 0.36 points to trade at 4.60 at the close. Meanwhile, Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT) added 7.53% or 3.82 points to end at 54.52 and Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd (ASX:HVN) was up 7.32% or 0.260 points to 3.810 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were G8 Education Ltd (ASX:GEM), which fell 5.80% or 0.065 points to trade at 1.055 at the close. Cooper Energy Ltd (ASX:COE) declined 5.62% or 0.025 points to end at 0.420 and Virgin Money UK PLC (ASX:VUK) was down 5.45% or 0.12 points to 2.08.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 631 to 602 and 374 ended unchanged.
Shares in Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT) rose to all time highs; rising 7.53% or 3.82 to 54.52.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 18.52% to 17.717 a new 3-months low.
Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.17% or 2.85 to $1724.75 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July fell 2.00% or 0.78 to hit $38.16 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract fell 1.60% or 0.66 to trade at $40.52 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.30% to 0.6982, while AUD/JPY rose 0.04% to 74.99.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.11% at 96.218.
