Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 1.60% By Investing.com

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

At the close in Sydney, the lost 1.60% to hit a new 3-months low.

The best performers of the session on the were Nanosonics Ltd (ASX:), which rose 4.68% or 0.16 points to trade at 3.58 at the close. Meanwhile, Megaport Ltd (ASX:) added 3.62% or 0.26 points to end at 7.44 and Rea Group Ltd (ASX:) was up 3.49% or 4.02 points to 119.15 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:), which fell 14.17% or 0.36 points to trade at 2.18 at the close. Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:) declined 14.02% or 1.29 points to end at 7.91 and St Barbara Ltd (ASX:) was down 10.46% or 0.08 points to 0.69.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 1206 to 260 and 301 ended unchanged.

Shares in Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:) fell to 5-year lows; down 14.17% or 0.36 to 2.18. Shares in St Barbara Ltd (ASX:) fell to 5-year lows; down 10.46% or 0.08 to 0.69.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 11.14% to 21.19 a new 3-months high.

Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.22% or 3.65 to $1,651.95 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November fell 0.46% or 0.36 to hit $78.38 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract fell 0.55% or 0.47 to trade at $84.56 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.28% to 0.65, while AUD/JPY fell 0.01% to 93.53.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.18% at 113.17.