Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.75% By Investing.com

Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the , and sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Sydney, the fell 0.75%.

The best performers of the session on the were Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX:), which rose 7.69% or 0.02 points to trade at 0.21 at the close. Meanwhile, Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX:) added 3.95% or 0.03 points to end at 0.79 and Silver Lake Resources Ltd (ASX:) was up 3.88% or 0.05 points to 1.34 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Downer Edi Ltd (ASX:), which fell 20.42% or 0.98 points to trade at 3.82 at the close. Collins Foods Ltd (ASX:) declined 5.10% or 0.39 points to end at 7.26 and South32 Ltd (ASX:) was down 5.08% or 0.22 points to 4.11.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 760 to 556 and 375 ended unchanged.

Shares in Downer Edi Ltd (ASX:) fell to 52-week lows; down 20.42% or 0.98 to 3.82. Shares in Collins Foods Ltd (ASX:) fell to 52-week lows; losing 5.10% or 0.39 to 7.26.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 2.84% to 12.74.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.02% or 0.40 to $1,797.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 1.31% or 0.94 to hit $72.95 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 1.19% or 0.92 to trade at $78.09 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.25% to 0.67, while AUD/JPY rose 0.28% to 92.07.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.01% at 105.05.