Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.29%

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.29% to hit a new 1-month low.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX:WGX), which rose 6.69% or 0.09 points to trade at 1.43 at the close. Meanwhile, Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX:RMS) added 4.88% or 0.06 points to end at 1.29 and Metcash Ltd (ASX:MTS) was up 4.74% or 0.17 points to 3.76 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Appen Ltd (ASX:APX), which fell 12.31% or 0.32 points to trade at 2.28 at the close. Perenti Global Ltd (ASX:PRN) declined 9.80% or 0.13 points to end at 1.15 and Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) was down 5.75% or 0.03 points to 0.41.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 868 to 469 and 469 ended unchanged.

Shares in Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) fell to 5-year lows; losing 5.75% or 0.03 to 0.41.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 6.95% to 13.37 a new 1-month high.

Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.43% or 8.30 to $1,937.90 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 0.03% or 0.02 to hit $69.14 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.05% or 0.04 to trade at $74.05 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.06% to 0.67, while AUD/JPY fell 0.46% to 95.47.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.16% at 102.37.