Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.85%

Investing.com – Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the , and sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Sydney, the gained 0.85% to hit a new 3-months high.

The best performers of the session on the were Nuix Ltd (ASX:), which rose 14.04% or 0.16 points to trade at 1.30 at the close. Meanwhile, Kogan.com Ltd (ASX:) added 9.97% or 0.58 points to end at 6.40 and Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:) was up 6.89% or 0.11 points to 1.63 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Austal Ltd (ASX:), which fell 10.51% or 0.27 points to trade at 2.30 at the close. Cromwell Property Group (ASX:) declined 2.70% or 0.02 points to end at 0.54 and Skycity Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX:) was down 2.40% or 0.05 points to 2.03.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 657 to 569 and 457 ended unchanged.

Shares in Kogan.com Ltd (ASX:) rose to 52-week highs; rising 9.97% or 0.58 to 6.40.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 2.04% to 10.68.

Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.35% or 6.95 to $1,970.65 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September fell 0.24% or 0.19 to hit $79.44 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract fell 0.20% or 0.17 to trade at $83.08 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.29% to 0.68, while AUD/JPY fell 0.50% to 95.23.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.15% at 100.95.