Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.56%

Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Monday, as losses in the Gold, Metals & Mining and Materials sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.56% to hit a new 1-month low.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Austal Ltd (ASX:ASB), which rose 4.29% or 0.12 points to trade at 2.92 at the close. Meanwhile, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Ltd (ASX:FPH) added 3.78% or 1.26 points to end at 34.62 and Healius Ltd (ASX:HLS) was up 2.18% or 0.03 points to 1.40 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Appen Ltd (ASX:APX), which fell 13.23% or 0.34 points to trade at 2.23 at the close. Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX:RSG) declined 6.98% or 0.03 points to end at 0.40 and Platinum Asset Management Ltd (ASX:PTM) was down 4.55% or 0.03 points to 0.64.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 761 to 374 and 434 ended unchanged.

Shares in Platinum Asset Management Ltd (ASX:PTM) fell to all time lows; losing 4.55% or 0.03 to 0.64.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 3.09% to 10.23.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.26% or 6.83 to $2,668.97 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 1.19% or 0.85 to hit $70.44 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 0.44% or 0.33 to trade at $74.16 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.20% to 0.64, while AUD/JPY rose 0.20% to 97.96.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.16% at 106.51.