Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Metals & Mining, Materials and Resources sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.41%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Ainsworth Game Technology Ltd (ASX:AGI), which rose 9.28% or 0.220 points to trade at 2.590 at the close. Meanwhile, Senex Energy Ltd (ASX:SXY) added 5.45% or 0.015 points to end at 0.290 and Drillsearch Energy Ltd (ASX:DLS) was up 4.90% or 0.035 points to 0.750 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Sandfire Resources NL (ASX:SFR), which fell 7.39% or 0.300 points to trade at 3.760 at the close. Alumina Ltd (ASX:AWC) declined 6.89% or 0.135 points to end at 1.825 and Western Areas Ltd (ASX:WSA) was down 6.30% or 0.240 points to 3.570.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 332 to 228 and 38 ended unchanged.
Shares in Sandfire Resources NL (ASX:SFR) fell to 3-year lows; falling 7.39% or 0.300 to 3.760.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 0.13% to 15.923.
Gold for February delivery was down 0.40% or 4.90 to $1229.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude Oil for delivery in February fell 0.44% or 0.21 to hit $48.27 a barrel, while the March Brent Oil contract fell 0.47% or 0.23 to trade at $49.60 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.78% to 0.8212, while AUD/JPY rose 1.14% to 96.71.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.15% at 92.44.