Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the IT, Metals & Mining and Materials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.88%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC), which rose 6.36% or 0.075 points to trade at 1.255 at the close. Meanwhile, Graincorp Ltd (ASX:GNC) added 5.23% or 0.27 points to end at 5.43 and Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX:OBL) was up 3.52% or 0.13 points to 3.82 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Perenti Global Ltd (ASX:PRN), which fell 29.23% or 0.285 points to trade at 0.690 at the close. Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) declined 12.97% or 17.49 points to end at 117.39 and Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT) was down 5.39% or 4.81 points to 84.50.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 942 to 412 and 390 ended unchanged.
Shares in Perenti Global Ltd (ASX:PRN) fell to 52-week lows; down 29.23% or 0.285 to 0.690. Shares in Graincorp Ltd (ASX:GNC) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 5.23% or 0.27 to 5.43.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 3.18% to 14.818 a new 1-month high.
Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.29% or 5.25 to $1817.55 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June fell 1.68% or 1.11 to hit $64.97 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract fell 1.62% or 1.12 to trade at $68.20 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.06% to 0.7721, while AUD/JPY fell 0.09% to 84.62.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.02% at 90.665.