Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Consumer Discretionary, Energy and Telecoms Services sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.33%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were NRW Holdings Ltd (ASX:NWH), which rose 7.07% or 0.21 points to trade at 3.18 at the close. Meanwhile, Boral Ltd. (ASX:BLD) added 6.00% or 0.290 points to end at 5.120 and Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX:VEA) was up 5.88% or 0.105 points to 1.890 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were New Hope Corporation Ltd (ASX:NHC), which fell 14.25% or 0.265 points to trade at 1.595 at the close. Mayne Pharma Group Ltd (ASX:MYX) declined 6.25% or 0.025 points to end at 0.375 and Sandfire Resources NL (ASX:SFR) was down 5.93% or 0.310 points to 4.920.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 621 to 534 and 339 ended unchanged.
Shares in New Hope Corporation Ltd (ASX:NHC) fell to 52-week lows; losing 14.25% or 0.265 to 1.595. Shares in Mayne Pharma Group Ltd (ASX:MYX) fell to 5-year lows; down 6.25% or 0.025 to 0.375. Shares in Sandfire Resources NL (ASX:SFR) fell to 3-years lows; falling 5.93% or 0.310 to 4.920.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 2.23% to 12.671.
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.85% or 13.75 to $1634.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 0.93% or 0.50 to hit $53.38 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract fell 0.98% or 0.58 to trade at $58.73 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.26% to 0.6597, while AUD/JPY fell 0.40% to 73.86.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.04% at 99.737.