Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Gold, IT and Metals & Mining sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.69%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Myer Holdings Ltd (AX:MYR), which rose 6.08% or 0.045 points to trade at 0.785 at the close. Meanwhile, Mayne Pharma Group Ltd (AX:MYX) added 4.88% or 0.030 points to end at 0.645 and Skycity Entertainment Group Ltd (AX:SKC) was up 3.49% or 0.120 points to 3.560 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Aristocrat Leisure Ltd (AX:ALL), which fell 7.33% or 1.730 points to trade at 21.870 at the close. Independence Group NL (AX:IGO) declined 5.62% or 0.250 points to end at 4.200 and Iress Ltd (AX:IRE) was down 4.06% or 0.460 points to 10.880.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 670 to 560 and 357 ended unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 6.70% to 12.470.
Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.11% or 1.40 to $1283.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.30% or 0.17 to hit $57.47 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.43% or 0.27 to trade at $62.80 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.25% to 0.7590, while AUD/JPY rose 0.38% to 85.05.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.12% at 93.11.