Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Tuesday, as losses in the Energy, IT and Healthcare sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.53%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Western Areas Ltd (AX:WSA), which rose 4.18% or 0.100 points to trade at 2.490 at the close. Meanwhile, Metcash Ltd (AX:MTS) added 3.18% or 0.090 points to end at 2.920 and Estia Health Ltd (AX:EHE) was up 2.50% or 0.060 points to 2.460 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (AX:APT), which fell 5.12% or 0.860 points to trade at 15.940 at the close. Altium Ltd (AX:ALU) declined 4.68% or 1.230 points to end at 25.060 and Galaxy Resources Ltd (AX:GXY) was down 3.82% or 0.095 points to 2.395.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 690 to 476 and 373 ended unchanged.
Shares in Galaxy Resources Ltd (AX:GXY) fell to 52-week lows; falling 3.82% or 0.095 to 2.395.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 1.94% to 13.080.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.12% or 1.50 to $1204.30 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November fell 0.42% or 0.29 to hit $68.39 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract fell 0.53% or 0.41 to trade at $77.64 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.38% to 0.7209, while AUD/JPY rose 0.42% to 80.72.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.06% at 94.03.