Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Telecoms Services, Utilities and Consumer Discretionary sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.02%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Graincorp Ltd (AX:GNC), which rose 8.22% or 0.750 points to trade at 9.870 at the close. Meanwhile, Syrah Res F (AX:SYR) added 5.64% or 0.155 points to end at 2.905 and Australian Agricultural Company Ltd (AX:AAC) was up 5.46% or 0.095 points to 1.835 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were BT Investment Management Ltd (AX:BTT), which fell 5.70% or 0.740 points to trade at 12.250 at the close. Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd (AX:CWY) declined 5.64% or 0.078 points to end at 1.298 and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (AX:FMG) was down 5.07% or 0.260 points to 4.870.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 567 to 536 and 371 ended unchanged.
Shares in Graincorp Ltd (AX:GNC) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 8.22% or 0.750 to 9.870.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 0.52% to 11.755.
Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.25% or 3.03 to $1221.93 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 0.55% or 0.26 to hit $47.59 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 0.52% or 0.26 to trade at $50.48 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.16% to 0.7353, while AUD/JPY fell 0.30% to 83.94.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.01% at 99.51.