Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Metals & Mining, Gold and Materials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.34% to hit a new 52-week low.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were NIB Holdings (AX:NHF), which rose 3.34% or 0.160 points to trade at 4.950 at the close. Meanwhile, Medibank Private Ltd (AX:MPL) added 3.33% or 0.080 points to end at 2.480 and Metcash Ltd (AX:MTS) was up 2.98% or 0.070 points to 2.420 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Myob Group Ltd (AX:MYO), which fell 13.95% or 0.470 points to trade at 2.900 at the close. Orocobre Ltd (AX:ORE) declined 13.59% or 0.530 points to end at 3.370 and Galaxy Resources Ltd (AX:GXY) was down 10.20% or 0.250 points to 2.200.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 809 to 348 and 321 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 16.96% to 20.592 a new 1-month high.
Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.64% or 8.05 to $1248.35 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 2.18% or 1.05 to hit $47.12 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 1.59% or 0.91 to trade at $56.33 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.27% to 0.7089, while AUD/JPY fell 0.63% to 79.45.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.12% at 96.370.