Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.04%

Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Utilities, Energy and Resources sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.04%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Fisher&Paykel Healthcare Ltd (ASX:FPH), which rose 11.35% or 3.33 points to trade at 32.67 at the close. Meanwhile, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) added 6.82% or 0.09 points to end at 1.41 and IPH Ltd (ASX:IPH) was up 6.25% or 0.38 points to 6.46 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Inghams Group Ltd (ASX:ING), which fell 19.90% or 0.77 points to trade at 3.10 at the close. Spark New Zealand Ltd (ASX:SPK) declined 7.40% or 0.29 points to end at 3.63 and Fletcher Building Ltd (ASX:FBU) was down 6.71% or 0.20 points to 2.78.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 594 to 505 and 437 ended unchanged.

Shares in Fisher&Paykel Healthcare Ltd (ASX:FPH) rose to 3-years highs; up 11.35% or 3.33 to 32.67. Shares in Inghams Group Ltd (ASX:ING) fell to 52-week lows; losing 19.90% or 0.77 to 3.10. Shares in Spark New Zealand Ltd (ASX:SPK) fell to 3-years lows; falling 7.40% or 0.29 to 3.63.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 2.02% to 11.69.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.52% or 13.20 to $2,529.90 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 0.10% or 0.07 to hit $73.08 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 0.08% or 0.06 to trade at $77.28 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.23% to 0.67, while AUD/JPY fell 0.30% to 97.83.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.16% at 101.23.