Australian stock benchmarks ended Wednesday's session with modest gains as strength in information technology, A-REITs and consumer discretionary names helped push the S&P/ASX 200 higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.54%.
Top performers
The session's largest percentage advance on the S&P/ASX 200 belonged to Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX:NWL), which rose 14.74% - a gain of 3.29 points - to finish at 25.61. Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX:MFG) added 12.30%, or 1.00 point, to close at 9.13. Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) was also among the day's leaders, up 10.15% or 0.27 to end the session at 2.88.
Biggest decliners
On the downside, Capstone Copper Corp DRC (ASX:CSC) posted the largest drop, losing 14.08% or 2.20 points to trade at 13.43 at the close. Judo Capital Holdings Ltd (ASX:JDO) fell 4.49% or 0.09 to 1.81, while Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX:SUN) declined 4.07% or 0.65 to 15.33.
Notably, Suncorp's shares slipped to 52-week lows during the session, finishing down 4.07% to 15.33.
On the broader exchange, advancing issues outnumbered decliners by 661 to 492, with 346 stocks unchanged.
Volatility, commodities and currencies
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, a gauge of implied volatility on index options, fell 7.16% to 11.51, indicating a pullback in expected near-term market swings.
In commodities trading, April gold futures rose 0.99% - up 48.44 - to $4,954.34 a troy ounce. Crude oil for April delivery increased 0.21% or 0.13 to $62.39 a barrel, while the April Brent contract was up 0.28% or 0.19 to $67.61 a barrel.
Foreign exchange moves were mixed: AUD/USD was unchanged 0.24% at 0.71, while AUD/JPY edged down 0.06% to 108.56. The US Dollar Index Futures rose 0.08% to 97.14.
Additional note
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This session's market action left select sectors and individual names as the primary drivers of the small gain in the headline index, while a group of stocks experienced notable declines.