Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the IT, Utilities and Energy sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.33%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Janus Henderson Group PLC DRC (ASX:JHG), which rose 7.68% or 4.12 points to trade at 57.76 at the close. Meanwhile, Waypoint REIT Ltd (ASX:WPR) added 4.37% or 0.110 points to end at 2.630 and IGO Ltd (ASX:IGO) was up 3.67% or 0.330 points to 9.310 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Origin Energy Ltd (ASX:ORG), which fell 7.85% or 0.350 points to trade at 4.110 at the close. Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:CUV) declined 6.26% or 1.86 points to end at 27.86 and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) was down 5.29% or 1.390 points to 24.910.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 700 to 646 and 396 ended unchanged.
Shares in Janus Henderson Group PLC DRC (ASX:JHG) rose to 5-year highs; up 7.68% or 4.12 to 57.76. Shares in IGO Ltd (ASX:IGO) rose to all time highs; rising 3.67% or 0.330 to 9.310.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 7.81% to 12.467.
Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.04% or 0.70 to $1830.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September fell 0.58% or 0.43 to hit $73.19 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract fell 0.61% or 0.46 to trade at $74.64 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.11% to 0.7387, while AUD/JPY fell 0.09% to 80.88.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.01% at 91.862.