Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.49%

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.49%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX:PME), which rose 3.49% or 4.04 points to trade at 119.93 at the close. Meanwhile, Collins Foods Ltd (ASX:CKF) added 2.98% or 0.27 points to end at 9.32 and Reliance Worldwide Corporation Ltd (ASX:RWC) was up 2.97% or 0.14 points to 4.85 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB), which fell 9.35% or 0.12 points to trade at 1.12 at the close. Regis Resources Ltd (ASX:RRL) declined 6.25% or 0.12 points to end at 1.80 and Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX:OBL) was down 4.84% or 0.05 points to 0.89.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 736 to 400 and 452 ended unchanged.

Shares in Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX:PME) rose to all time highs; rising 3.49% or 4.04 to 119.93.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.42% to 11.60.

Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.62% or 14.65 to $2,349.45 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July fell 0.29% or 0.23 to hit $79.00 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract fell 0.32% or 0.27 to trade at $83.16 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.18% to 0.66, while AUD/JPY fell 0.67% to 103.50.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.02% at 105.06.