Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Healthcare, Financials and Industrials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.20%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (AX:APT), which rose 9.20% or 0.790 points to trade at 9.380 at the close. Meanwhile, Perpetual Ltd (AX:PPT) added 4.55% or 1.825 points to end at 41.925 and Automotive Group Holdings Ltd (AX:AHG) was up 4.00% or 0.110 points to 2.860 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Seven West Media Ltd (AX:SWM), which fell 3.74% or 0.033 points to trade at 0.838 at the close. CSR Ltd (AX:CSR) declined 3.58% or 0.170 points to end at 4.580 and Credit Corp Group Ltd (AX:CCP) was down 3.09% or 0.580 points to 18.170.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 746 to 584 and 441 ended unchanged.
Shares in Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (AX:APT) rose to all time highs; gaining 9.20% or 0.790 to 9.380.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 2.23% to 13.390 a new 1-month high.
Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.14% or 1.70 to $1252.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 0.23% or 0.17 to hit $73.28 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 0.06% or 0.05 to trade at $77.56 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.50% to 0.7389, while AUD/JPY rose 0.70% to 81.81.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.46% at 94.56.