Australia’s stock market closed with a slight gain on Wednesday, with the S&P/ASX 200 edging up by 0.06%. The positive performance was driven by increases in the Gold, Metals & Mining, and Materials sectors.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 recorded a modest gain of 0.06%. Among the top performers during the session were Appen Ltd (ASX:APX), surging by 19.30% or 0.06 points to close at 0.34. Kogan.com Ltd (ASX:KGN) followed, adding 15.56% or 0.68 points to end at 5.05, while Iluka Resources Ltd (ASX:ILU) witnessed a rise of 9.05% or 0.60 points to reach 7.23 in late trade.
Conversely, the worst performers during the session included Nanosonics Ltd (ASX:NAN), which saw a significant decline of 33.41% or 1.46 points, closing at 2.91. Nuix Ltd (ASX:NXL) declined by 4.09% or 0.07 points, closing at 1.52, and AUB Group Ltd (ASX:AUB) was down by 3.67% or 1.14 points, closing at 29.93.
Despite the gain, falling stocks slightly outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange, with 591 declining, 585 advancing, and 437 remaining unchanged.
Nanosonics Ltd (ASX:NAN) observed its shares falling to 5-year lows, losing 33.41% to close at 2.91.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, measuring the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, decreased by 7.54% to 10.82.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery were down by 0.07% or 1.45 to $2,024.35 a troy ounce. Crude oil for delivery in March fell by 0.13% or 0.10 to reach $74.27 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell by 0.13% or 0.10, trading at $79.45 a barrel.
The AUD/USD remained unchanged at 0.66, while AUD/JPY fell by 0.52% to 97.12.
The US Dollar Index Futures decreased by 0.14% to 103.26.