Investing.com – Australia equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Consumer Discretionary, IT and Consumer Staples sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.13%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT), which rose 4.62% or 0.06 points to trade at 1.25 at the close. Woodside Energy Ltd (ASX:WDS) added 3.42% or 0.86 points to end at 25.99 and Cromwell Property Group (ASX:CMW) was up 3.30% or 0.02 points to 0.47 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH), which lost 6.38% or 0.05 points to trade at 0.66 in late trade. Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) declined 3.32% or 0.25 points to end at 7.29 and Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX:QAN) shed 3.07% or 0.22 points to 6.95.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 612 to 477 and 425 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 0.35% to 12.10.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.77% or 20.80 to $2,669.50 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 1.72% or 1.20 to hit $71.03 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 1.58% or 1.16 to trade at $74.72 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.08% to 0.69, while AUD/JPY rose 0.26% to 99.08.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.05% at 100.98.