Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Consumer Staples, Industrials and Telecoms Services sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.49%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Elders Ltd (ASX:ELD), which rose 16.43% or 0.995 points to trade at 7.050 at the close. Meanwhile, Austal Ltd (ASX:ASB) added 11.24% or 0.400 points to end at 3.960 and Western Areas Ltd (ASX:WSA) was up 8.70% or 0.180 points to 2.250 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Speedcast International Ltd (ASX:SDA), which fell 6.74% or 0.130 points to trade at 1.800 at the close. Galaxy Resources Ltd (ASX:GXY) declined 6.59% or 0.090 points to end at 1.275 and Estia Health Ltd (ASX:EHE) was down 5.78% or 0.160 points to 2.610.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 606 to 545 and 345 ended unchanged.
Shares in Austal Ltd (ASX:ASB) rose to all time highs; up 11.24% or 0.400 to 3.960.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 1.44% to 10.898.
Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.38% or 5.30 to $1405.90 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 0.28% or 0.16 to hit $57.78 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.50% or 0.32 to trade at $64.67 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.04% to 0.7009, while AUD/JPY fell 0.05% to 75.84.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.00% at 97.037.
