Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Tuesday, as losses in the Consumer Staples, Consumer Discretionary and Energy sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.01%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Polynovo Ltd (ASX:PNV), which rose 15.44% or 0.210 points to trade at 1.570 at the close. Meanwhile, Blackmores Ltd (ASX:BKL) added 6.71% or 5.87 points to end at 93.31 and Charter Hall Group (ASX:CHC) was up 5.28% or 1.10 points to 21.95 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB), which fell 17.35% or 0.295 points to trade at 1.405 at the close. Woolworths Ltd (ASX:WOW) declined 7.67% or 3.110 points to end at 37.450 and Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC) was down 4.12% or 0.100 points to 2.330.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 773 to 570 and 408 ended unchanged.
Shares in Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) fell to 52-week lows; losing 17.35% or 0.295 to 1.405. Shares in Charter Hall Group (ASX:CHC) rose to all time highs; gaining 5.28% or 1.10 to 21.95.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 0.26% to 12.135.
Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.14% or 2.50 to $1785.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.27% or 0.19 to hit $71.48 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.36% or 0.27 to trade at $74.66 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.10% to 0.7122, while AUD/JPY rose 0.00% to 80.96.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.13% at 96.395.