Australia Stock Market Update

Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Gold, IT, and Materials sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.70% to hit a new 1-month low.

Top Performers

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were:
– Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB): +54.04% or +1.07 points to trade at 3.05 at the close.
– Credit Corp Group Ltd (ASX:CCP): +7.65% or +1.16 points to end at 16.33.
– Insignia Financial Ltd (ASX:IFL): +4.35% or +0.15 points to 3.60 in late trade.

Worst Performers

The worst performers of the session were:
– Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1): -10.56% or -0.88 points to trade at 7.45 at the close.
– Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP): -8.97% or -0.28 points to end at 2.84.
– Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX:WGX): -8.33% or -0.27 points to 2.97.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 832 to 285, with 382 ending unchanged.

Shares in Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) rose to 3-year highs, increasing 54.04% or 1.07 to 3.05.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 20.76% to 11.81, a new 1-month high.

Commodities Update

• Gold Futures for February delivery was down 1.19% or 31.50 to $2,621.80 a troy ounce.
• Crude oil for delivery in January fell 1.46% or 1.03 to hit $69.55 a barrel.
• The February Brent oil contract fell 0.59% or 0.43 to trade at $72.96 a barrel.

Currency Update

• AUD/USD was unchanged at 0.03% to 0.62.
• AUD/JPY rose 0.41% to 96.63.
• The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.07% at 107.82.