Australia stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the IT, Consumer Discretionary and Financials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.13%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Independence Group NL (ASX:IGO), which rose 6.00% or 0.390 points to trade at 6.890 at the close. Meanwhile, Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX:NCM) added 4.03% or 1.240 points to end at 32.000 and Regis Resources Ltd (ASX:RRL) was up 3.70% or 0.160 points to 4.480 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Polynovo Ltd (ASX:PNV), which fell 8.13% or 0.165 points to trade at 1.865 at the close. Pendal Group Ltd (ASX:PDL) declined 5.32% or 0.480 points to end at 8.540 and Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) was down 4.76% or 0.015 points to 0.300.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 761 to 402 and 333 ended unchanged.
Shares in Independence Group NL (ASX:IGO) rose to 5-year highs; up 6.00% or 0.390 to 6.890.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 3.14% to 13.018.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 1.32% or 20.75 to $1595.05 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.94% or 0.59 to hit $63.29 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 1.25% or 0.85 to trade at $69.12 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.06% to 0.6872, while AUD/JPY rose 0.07% to 74.50.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.08% at 96.625.
