Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.11%

Category: Stock Market

Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Energy, Resources and Consumer Discretionary sectors led shares higher.At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.11%.The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Domino'S Pizza Enterprises Ltd (AX:DMP), which rose 8.39% or 6.220 points to trade at 80.330 at the close. Meanwhile, Sonic Healthcare Ltd (AX:SHL) added 6.37% or 1.410 points to end at 23.550 and Mesoblast Ltd (AX:MSB) was up 5.65% or 0.085 points to 1.590 in late trade.The worst performers of the session were Spotless Fp (AX:SPO), which fell 10.53% or 0.120 points to trade at 1.020 at the close. Qbe Insurance Group Ltd (AX:QBE) declined 8.42% or 0.940 points to end at 10.230 and Evolution Mining Ltd (AX:EVN) was down 5.85% or 0.155 points to 2.495.Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 565 to 505 and 336 ended unchanged.Shares in Domino'S Pizza Enterprises Ltd (AX:DMP) rose to all time highs; gaining 8.39% or 6.220 to 80.330. Shares in Sonic Healthcare Ltd (AX:SHL) rose to 52-week highs; up 6.37% or 1.410 to 23.550.The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.30% to 11.964 a new 52-week low.Gold for December delivery was down 0.60% or 8.15 to $1348.75 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September fell 0.54% or 0.25 to hit $46.33 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract fell 0.71% or 0.35 to trade at $48.88 a barrel.AUD/USD was down 0.30% to 0.7672, while AUD/JPY rose 0.38% to 77.48.The US Dollar Index was up 0.21% at 94.95.