Australia shares higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.06%

Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Gold , Financials and Telecoms Services sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.06% to hit a new 52-week high.

The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Sirtex Medical Ltd (AX: SRX ), which rose 3.49% or 0.490 points to trade at 14.520 at the close. Blackmores Ltd (AX: BKL ) added 3.38% or 3.610 points to end at 110.320 and Asaleo Care (AX: AHY ) was up 3.31% or 0.050 points to 1.560 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Ardent Leisure Group (AX: AAD ), which lost 4.70% or 0.110 points to trade at 2.230 in late trade. Nextdc Ltd (AX: NXT ) declined 3.24% or 0.120 points to end at 3.580 and Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd (AX: CWY ) shed 3.20% or 0.040 points to 1.210.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 507 to 470 and 327 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 down 0.98% to 12.878.

In commodities trading, Gold for February delivery was down 0.13% or 1.50 to $1160.50 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.80% or 0.42 to hit $52.75 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 0.78% or 0.43 to trade at $55.90 a barrel.

AUD/USD was up 0.29% to 0.7240, while AUD/JPY rose 0.60% to 85.52.

The US Dollar Index was up 0.07% at 103.31.