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 declined 0.61%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were James Hardie Industries PLC (AX:JHX), which rose 6.23% or 1.180 points to trade at 20.130 at the close. Meanwhile, Henderson Group PLC (AX:HGG) added 3.72% or 0.180 points to end at 5.020 and JB Hi-Fi Ltd (AX:JBH) was up 3.59% or 0.820 points to 23.680 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were St Barbara Ltd (AX:SBM), which fell 9.36% or 0.250 points to trade at 2.420 at the close. Regis Resources Ltd (AX:RRL) declined 7.50% or 0.240 points to end at 2.960 and Newcrest Mining Ltd (AX:NCM) was down 7.64% or 1.630 points to 19.710.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 632 to 379 and 348 ended unchanged.
Shares in James Hardie Industries PLC (AX:JHX) rose to all time highs; gaining 6.23% or 1.180 to 20.130.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 1.44% to 18.026.
Gold for June delivery was down 1.63% or 20.75 to $1253.65 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June fell 1.54% or 0.74 to hit $47.45 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract fell 1.92% or 0.94 to trade at $47.99 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.50% to 0.7193, while AUD/JPY fell 0.36% to 79.37.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.13% at 95.32.