Australia stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 up 0.53%

29/01/2020 06:45:00 Stock MarketStock Market

Australia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the IT, Healthcare and Industrials sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P;/ASX 200 gained 0.53%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P;/ASX 200 were Virgin Money UK PLC (ASX:VUK), which rose 9.38% or 0.30 points to trade at 3.50 at the close. Meanwhile, Iluka Resources Ltd (ASX:ILU) added 6.49% or 0.580 points to end at 9.520 and Credit Corp Group Ltd (ASX:CCP) was up 4.66% or 1.53 points to 34.33 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX:TWE), which fell 25.04% or 4.180 points to trade at 12.510 at the close. oOh!Media Ltd (ASX:OML) declined 6.67% or 0.24 points to end at 3.36 and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX:NST) was down 3.92% or 0.510 points to 12.490.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 669 to 484 and 375 ended unchanged.

Shares in Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX:TWE) fell to 52-week lows; losing 25.04% or 4.180 to 12.510. Shares in Credit Corp Group Ltd (ASX:CCP) rose to all time highs; gaining 4.66% or 1.53 to 34.33.

The S&P;/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P;/ASX 200 options, was down 7.31% to 13.507.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.23% or 3.55 to $1566.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 1.07% or 0.57 to hit $54.05 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 1.09% or 0.64 to trade at $59.45 a barrel.

AUD/USD was up 0.09% to 0.6768, while AUD/JPY rose 0.06% to 73.83.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.03% at 97.808.