Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Utilities, Industrials and Telecoms Services sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.08%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Resolute Mining Ltd (AX:RSG), which rose 5.78% or 0.065 points to trade at 1.190 at the close. Meanwhile, Asaleo Care (AX:AHY) added 5.33% or 0.080 points to end at 1.580 and Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd (AX:SAR) was up 5.32% or 0.080 points to 1.585 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Syrah Resources Ltd (AX:SYR), which fell 5.52% or 0.240 points to trade at 4.110 at the close. AusNet Services Ltd (AX:AST) declined 2.91% or 0.050 points to end at 1.670 and Bluescope Steel Ltd (AX:BSL) was down 2.45% or 0.370 points to 14.730.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 624 to 604 and 389 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 2.62% to 11.304.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.46% or 6.20 to $1362.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 1.07% or 0.70 to hit $66.31 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 0.69% or 0.49 to trade at $71.02 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.40% to 0.8092, while AUD/JPY rose 0.19% to 88.20.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.24% at 88.81.