Australian stocks experienced a minor decline at the close of trading on Wednesday, with losses primarily observed in the Utilities, Industrials, and IT sectors.
The S&P/ASX 200 index in Sydney concluded the session with a marginal decrease of 0.01%.
Among the top performers on the S&P/ASX 200 were Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH), which surged by 6.33% or 0.05 points to reach 0.84 by the close. Similarly, Nuix Ltd (ASX:NXL) witnessed a gain of 6.12% or 0.12 points, ending at 2.08, while Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Ltd (ASX:FPH) climbed 4.95% or 1.21 points, settling at 25.57 in late trading.
Conversely, the session saw some notable decliners, with Kogan.com Ltd (ASX:KGN) experiencing a substantial drop of 26.46% or 1.86 points, closing at 5.17. Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd (ASX:CWY) also witnessed a decline of 10.13% or 0.31 points, ending at 2.70, while Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) slipped 4.51% or 0.06 points to 1.17.
On the Sydney Stock Exchange, declining stocks slightly outnumbered advancing ones, with 610 stocks falling, 565 rising, and 428 remaining unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, decreased by 4.00% to 11.35.
In commodity markets, Gold Futures for June delivery experienced a marginal decline of 0.14%, reaching $2,338.75 per troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for June delivery registered a slight increase of 0.20% or 0.17 to reach $83.53 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose by 0.19% or 0.17 to trade at $88.59 a barrel.
The AUD/USD pair remained unchanged at 0.65, while AUD/JPY rose by 0.42% to 100.85.
The US Dollar Index Futures witnessed a modest increase of 0.07%, closing at 105.57.