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 Gold, Energy and IT 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 Cromwell Property Group (ASX:CMW), which rose 6.17% or 0.03 points to trade at 0.43 at the close. Meanwhile, Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:CUV) added 4.28% or 0.71 points to end at 17.30 and Iress Ltd (ASX:IRE) was up 3.75% or 0.21 points to 5.81 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were AMP Ltd (ASX:AMP), which fell 15.27% or 0.16 points to trade at 0.86 at the close. Perenti Global Ltd (ASX:PRN) declined 5.74% or 0.06 points to end at 0.99 and Alumina Ltd (ASX:AWC) was down 5.52% or 0.04 points to 0.73.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 670 to 526 and 355 ended unchanged.

Shares in AMP Ltd (ASX:AMP) fell to all time lows; losing 15.27% or 0.16 to 0.86. Shares in Perenti Global Ltd (ASX:PRN) fell to 52-week lows; losing 5.74% or 0.06 to 0.99.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 9.06% to 10.83 a new 1-month low.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.08% or 1.55 to $1,965.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December fell 0.90% or 0.69 to hit $75.97 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 0.86% or 0.70 to trade at $80.48 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.50% to 0.65, while AUD/JPY fell 0.62% to 97.92.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.10% at 104.37.