Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Tuesday, as losses in the Gold, Utilities and IT sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.04%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Chorus Ltd (ASX:CNU), which rose 3.53% or 0.200 points to trade at 5.860 at the close. Meanwhile, IPH Ltd (ASX:IPH) added 3.49% or 0.290 points to end at 8.590 and Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX:SGR) was up 3.06% or 0.140 points to 4.720 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Smartgroup Corporation Ltd (ASX:SIQ), which fell 7.12% or 0.540 points to trade at 7.040 at the close. Virgin Money UK PLC (ASX:VUK) declined 6.34% or 0.260 points to end at 3.840 and Lynas Corporation Ltd (ASX:LYC) was down 6.20% or 0.160 points to 2.420.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 566 to 566 and 327 ended unchanged.
Shares in Smartgroup Corporation Ltd (ASX:SIQ) fell to 52-week lows; losing 7.12% or 0.540 to 7.040.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 0.14% to 11.507.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.05% or 0.75 to $1481.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.03% or 0.02 to hit $60.12 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.02% or 0.01 to trade at $65.35 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.30% to 0.6864, while AUD/JPY fell 0.25% to 75.19.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.12% at 96.695.