Australia Stocks Close Lower

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.64%.

Best Performers

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were:
– Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN): rose 4.97% or 0.27 points to trade at 5.70 at the close.
– Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd (ASX: NEC): added 2.40% or 0.03 points to end at 1.28.
– Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP): was up 2.18% or 0.10 points to 4.68 in late trade.

Worst Performers

The worst performers of the session were:
– Iluka Resources Ltd (ASX: ILU): fell 10.04% or 0.55 points to trade at 4.93 at the close.
– Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG): declined 8.87% or 1.06 points to end at 10.89.
– Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP): down 7.37% or 0.25 points to 3.14.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 596 to 425, with 396 ending unchanged.

Shares in Iluka Resources Ltd fell to 3-year lows, down 10.04% or 0.55 to 4.93.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 0.28% to 10.12.

Commodities Trading

• Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.58% or 15.46 to $2,663.86 a troy ounce.
• Crude oil for delivery in January was unchanged at $68.30 a barrel.
• The February Brent oil contract fell 0.08% or 0.06 to trade at $72.03 a barrel.

Currency Update

• AUD/USD was unchanged 0.33% to 0.64.
• AUD/JPY fell 0.42% to 96.43.
• The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.11% at 105.82.