Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Tuesday, as losses in the Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples and Financials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.09%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were APN Outdoor Group Ltd (AX:APO), which rose 4.61% or 0.320 points to trade at 7.260 at the close. Meanwhile, Whitehaven Coal Ltd (AX:WHC) added 4.49% or 0.053 points to end at 1.222 and Western Areas Ltd (AX:WSA) was up 3.97% or 0.095 points to 2.485 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Mantra Group Ltd (AX:MTR), which fell 8.09% or 0.275 points to trade at 3.125 at the close. Metcash Ltd (AX:MTS) declined 4.75% or 0.095 points to end at 1.905 and Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd (AX:HVN) was down 4.60% or 0.210 points to 4.360.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 610 to 455 and 294 ended unchanged.
Shares in APN Outdoor Group Ltd (AX:APO) rose to all time highs; rising 4.61% or 0.320 to 7.260. Shares in Mantra Group Ltd (AX:MTR) fell to 52-week lows; falling 8.09% or 0.275 to 3.125.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 2.15% to 18.917.
Gold for August delivery was up 0.41% or 5.50 to $1344.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 1.74% or 0.85 to hit $48.14 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 1.16% or 0.58 to trade at $49.52 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.32% to 0.7516, while AUD/JPY fell 0.74% to 76.77.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.10% at 95.71.