Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Tuesday, as losses in the Metals & Mining, Healthcare and Materials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.17% to hit a new 6-months high.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Orocobre Ltd (AX:ORE), which rose 4.76% or 0.220 points to trade at 4.840 at the close. Meanwhile, TPG Telecom Ltd (AX:TPM) added 3.24% or 0.170 points to end at 5.410 and Monadelphous Group Ltd (AX:MND) was up 2.54% or 0.420 points to 16.970 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Bendigo And Adelaide Bank Ltd (AX:BEN), which fell 4.77% or 0.570 points to trade at 11.380 at the close. Western Areas Ltd (AX:WSA) declined 3.79% or 0.110 points to end at 2.790 and Mineral Resources Ltd (AX:MIN) was down 3.76% or 0.680 points to 17.400.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 642 to 572 and 367 ended unchanged.
Shares in Monadelphous Group Ltd (AX:MND) rose to 3-years highs; gaining 2.54% or 0.420 to 16.970.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 0.29% to 11.284.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.01% or 0.11 to $1277.59 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December fell 0.30% or 0.16 to hit $53.99 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 0.25% or 0.15 to trade at $60.44 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.13% to 0.7678, while AUD/JPY fell 0.21% to 86.83.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.08% at 94.46.