Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Gold, A-REITs and Consumer Staples sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.06%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Orocobre Ltd (AX:ORE), which rose 7.48% or 0.220 points to trade at 3.160 at the close. Meanwhile, Western Areas Ltd (AX:WSA) added 4.21% or 0.090 points to end at 2.230 and CSR Ltd (AX:CSR) was up 4.04% or 0.190 points to 4.890 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Platinum Asset Management Ltd (AX:PTM), which fell 6.81% or 0.340 points to trade at 4.650 at the close. A2 Milk Company Ltd (AX:A2M) declined 5.49% or 0.180 points to end at 3.100 and Northern Star Resources Ltd (AX:NST) was down 4.92% or 0.220 points to 4.250.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 566 to 545 and 356 ended unchanged.
Shares in Platinum Asset Management Ltd (AX:PTM) fell to 3-years lows; losing 6.81% or 0.340 to 4.650. Shares in CSR Ltd (AX:CSR) rose to 5-year highs; up 4.04% or 0.190 to 4.890.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 4.05% to 11.219.
Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.04% or 0.47 to $1266.37 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 1.06% or 0.52 to hit $49.49 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 0.98% or 0.51 to trade at $52.33 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.09% to 0.7473, while AUD/JPY rose 0.07% to 83.09.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.06% at 99.08.