Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the IT, Consumer Staples and Consumer Discretionary sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 1.08%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Resmed Inc DRC (ASX:RMD), which rose 3.57% or 1.200 points to trade at 34.790 at the close. Meanwhile, Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX:RMS) added 3.42% or 0.050 points to end at 1.510 and AGL Energy Ltd (ASX:AGL) was up 2.75% or 0.20 points to 7.47 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Pendal Group Ltd (ASX:PDL), which fell 15.82% or 0.94 points to trade at 5.00 at the close. Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT) declined 9.16% or 6.96 points to end at 69.03 and Zip Co Ltd (ASX:Z1P) was down 5.13% or 0.20 points to 3.70.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 793 to 640 and 392 ended unchanged.
Shares in Pendal Group Ltd (ASX:PDL) fell to 52-week lows; falling 15.82% or 0.94 to 5.00. Shares in Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT) fell to 52-week lows; losing 9.16% or 6.96 to 69.03. Shares in Zip Co Ltd (ASX:Z1P) fell to 52-week lows; losing 5.13% or 0.20 to 3.70.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 8.07% to 13.665.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.33% or 6.05 to $1827.45 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.05% or 0.04 to hit $82.16 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 0.30% or 0.25 to trade at $84.72 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.02% to 0.7283, while AUD/JPY fell 0.37% to 82.82.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.08% at 94.695.