The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.96% lower on Wednesday, with the Energy, Financials, and Resources sectors leading the losses. The index hit a new 1-month low at the close of the session in Sydney. Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) was among the best performers of the day, rising 8.43% to trade at 0.96, followed by Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX:WGX) that added 7.74% to end at 1.67, and St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM), which was up 5.79% to 0.64 in late trade. On the other hand, Amcor PLC (ASX:AMC) emerged as the worst performer, declining 9.53% to trade at 14.91, followed by Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:CUV), which fell 6.45% to end at 19.71, and Polynovo Ltd (ASX:PNV) that was down 6.19% to 1.51.
The Sydney Stock Exchange saw 800 falling stocks outnumbering 497 advancing ones, while 401 ended unchanged. The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, measuring the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 8.50% to 13.83. The AUD/USD remained unchanged at 0.67, while the AUD/JPY fell 0.58% to 90.46. Gold Futures for June delivery were down 0.03% to $2,022.70 a troy ounce, while Crude oil for delivery in June fell 1.03% to hit $70.92 a barrel, and the July Brent oil contract fell 0.86% to trade at $74.67 a barrel. The US Dollar Index Futures declined 0.33% to 101.39.
