Australia’s stock market experienced declines on Wednesday, particularly in the IT, Gold, and A-REITs sectors, leading to a 1.37% decrease in the S&P/ASX 200 at the close in Sydney.

Among the top performers on the S&P/ASX 200 during the session were Medibank Private Ltd (ASX:MPL), which saw a 1.68% increase, Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH) with a 1.14% rise, and Qbe Insurance Group Ltd (ASX:QBE) with a 1.02% uptick.

Conversely, the worst-performing stocks included Kogan.com Ltd (ASX:KGN) with a 9.33% decline, Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX:GOR) falling by 8.44%, and Healius Ltd (ASX:HLS) dropping 6.33%.

The Sydney Stock Exchange reported a higher number of falling stocks (779) compared to advancing ones (364), while 377 remained unchanged.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, measuring the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, rose by 2.10% to reach 11.47, marking a new 1-month high.

Gold Futures for February delivery slightly decreased by 0.07% to $2,072.00 per troy ounce. In commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February fell by 0.37% to $70.12 per barrel, and the March Brent oil contract declined by 0.34% to trade at $75.63 per barrel.

The AUD/USD remained unchanged at 0.68%, while the AUD/JPY increased by 0.10% to 96.08.

The US Dollar Index Futures were down by 0.09% at 101.80.