Investing.com – Australia equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Financials, Energy and Utilities sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.74% to hit a new 1-month low.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX:EVN), which rose 10.61% or 0.095 points to trade at 0.990 at the close. Arrium Ltd (ASX:ARI) added 6.90% or 0.010 points to end at 0.155 and Bradken Ltd (ASX:BKN) was up 3.29% or 0.070 points to 2.200 in late trade.
Biggest losers included AWE Ltd (ASX:AWE), which lost 5.02% or 0.070 points to trade at 1.325 in late trade. STW Communications Group Ltd (ASX:SGN) declined 4.33% or 0.028 points to end at 0.608 and Sirtex Medical Ltd (ASX:SRX) shed 3.66% or 0.870 points to 22.930.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 491 to 469 and 179 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 up 0.62% to 15.458.
In commodities trading, Gold for June delivery was down 0.07% or 0.80 to $1202.30 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in June fell 1.42% or 0.81 to hit $55.80 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 1.12% or 0.69 to trade at $61.49 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.70% to 0.7764, while AUD/JPY rose 0.66% to 92.88.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.00% at 98.21.