Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.27%

Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Monday, as losses in the Gold, IT and Consumer Staples sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.27% to hit a new 3-months low.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB), which rose 7.69% or 0.06 points to trade at 0.84 at the close. Meanwhile, Unibail Rodamco Westfield (ASX:URW) added 5.88% or 0.18 points to end at 3.24 and Origin Energy Ltd (ASX:ORG) was up 2.90% or 0.15 points to 5.32 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX:RMS), which fell 5.59% or 0.04 points to trade at 0.68 at the close. Janus Henderson Group PLC DRC (ASX:JHG) declined 5.08% or 1.67 points to end at 31.22 and Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX:NIC) was down 5.06% or 0.04 points to 0.75.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 832 to 414 and 326 ended unchanged.

Shares in Janus Henderson Group PLC DRC (ASX:JHG) fell to 52-week lows; losing 5.08% or 1.67 to 31.22. Shares in Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX:NIC) fell to 52-week lows; falling 5.06% or 0.04 to 0.75.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 1.71% to 21.24 a new 3-months high.

Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.06% or 1.05 to $1,670.95 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 4.42% or 3.51 to hit $83.00 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 4.28% or 3.64 to trade at $88.78 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.58% to 0.64, while AUD/JPY rose 0.74% to 93.36.

The US Dollar Index Futures was unchanged 0.00% at 112.09.