Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Tuesday, as losses in the Utilities, Energy and Gold sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.08%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Metcash Ltd (ASX:MTS), which rose 5.69% or 0.210 points to trade at 3.900 at the close. Meanwhile, Nuix Ltd (ASX:NXL) added 4.96% or 0.12 points to end at 2.54 and Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX:LYC) was up 3.47% or 0.190 points to 5.670 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Collins Foods Ltd (ASX:CKF), which fell 5.67% or 0.72 points to trade at 11.98 at the close. Unibail Rodamco Westfield (ASX:URW) declined 5.18% or 0.32 points to end at 5.86 and Nufarm Ltd (ASX:NUF) was down 4.60% or 0.22 points to 4.56.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 779 to 569 and 428 ended unchanged.
Shares in Metcash Ltd (ASX:MTS) rose to 5-year highs; rising 5.69% or 0.210 to 3.900.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 6.84% to 11.222 a new 1-month low.
Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.42% or 7.40 to $1773.30 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 0.08% or 0.06 to hit $72.97 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 0.04% or 0.03 to trade at $74.11 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.24% to 0.7549, while AUD/JPY fell 0.20% to 83.54.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.11% at 91.980.