Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Gold, Metals & Mining and Resources sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.48%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Sirtex Medical Ltd (ASX:SRX), which rose 5.17% or 1.120 points to trade at 22.780 at the close. Meanwhile, Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX:MYR) added 4.91% or 0.070 points to end at 1.495 and Aveo Group (ASX:AOG) was up 3.57% or 0.095 points to 2.755 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Sandfire Resources NL (ASX:SFR), which fell 6.03% or 0.280 points to trade at 4.360 at the close. Sirius Resources NL (ASX:SIR) declined 4.92% or 0.130 points to end at 2.510 and Western Areas Ltd (ASX:WSA) was down 4.27% or 0.140 points to 3.140.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 514 to 427 and 189 ended unchanged.
Shares in Aveo Group (ASX:AOG) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 3.57% or 0.095 to 2.755. Shares in Western Areas Ltd (ASX:WSA) fell to 52-week lows; down 4.27% or 0.140 to 3.140.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 2.07% to 14.275.
Gold for June delivery was down 0.72% or 8.70 to $1194.40 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 1.08% or 0.55 to hit $50.97 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 0.09% or 0.05 to trade at $56.06 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.07% to 0.7687, while AUD/JPY rose 0.21% to 92.47.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.24% at 98.49.