Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.67%

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.67%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were United Malt Group Ltd (ASX:UMG), which rose 5.52% or 0.18 points to trade at 3.44 at the close. Meanwhile, Brickworks Ltd (ASX:BKW) added 3.13% or 0.72 points to end at 23.76 and Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX:RSG) was up 2.74% or 0.01 points to 0.38 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Polynovo Ltd (ASX:PNV), which fell 12.32% or 0.26 points to trade at 1.82 at the close. Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) declined 8.52% or 0.38 points to end at 4.08 and Unibail Rodamco Westfield (ASX:URW) was down 7.51% or 0.32 points to 3.94.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 757 to 469 and 368 ended unchanged.

Shares in Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) fell to 3-years lows; down 8.52% or 0.38 to 4.08. Shares in Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX:RSG) rose to 52-week highs; rising 2.74% or 0.01 to 0.38.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 3.77% to 14.24.

Gold Futures for April delivery was up 1.56% or 30.50 to $1,980.10 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 0.83% or 0.59 to hit $70.31 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 0.70% or 0.54 to trade at $76.15 a barrel.

AUD/USD was up 0.92% to 0.67, while AUD/JPY rose 0.48% to 88.26.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.23% at 101.74.