Australia Stock Market Update

Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, with losses in the Financials, Consumer Discretionary, and Gold sectors leading shares downward.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined by 0.06%.

Best Performers

• Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX:OBL): +49.48%, up 0.48 points, closing at 1.45.
• Cromwell Property Group (ASX:CMW): +12.16%, up 0.05 points, closing at 0.41.
• Kogan.com Ltd (ASX:KGN): +9.11%, up 0.51 points, closing at 6.11.

Worst Performers

• Insignia Financial Ltd (ASX:IFL): -4.17%, down 0.15 points, closing at 3.45.
• Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX:NIC): -3.51%, down 0.03 points, closing at 0.82.
• St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM): -1.61%, down 0.01 points, closing at 0.31.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange, with 566 down, 531 up, and 461 unchanged.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.91% at 9.77, a new 1-month low.

Gold futures for February delivery rose 0.06% or 1.55 to $2,663.55 per troy ounce. In commodities trading, crude oil for delivery in January fell 0.51% to $69.72 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.11% to $73.27 a barrel.

The AUD/USD exchange rate was unchanged at 0.63, while AUD/JPY fell 0.39% to 96.88.

Finally, the US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.04% at 106.62.