Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Consumer Discretionary, IT and A-REITs sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.87% to hit a new 1-month low.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC), which rose 2.68% or 0.24 points to trade at 9.20 at the close. Meanwhile, Austal Ltd (ASX:ASB) added 2.04% or 0.05 points to end at 2.50 and Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) was up 1.94% or 1.77 points to 93.00 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO), which fell 7.84% or 6.51 points to trade at 76.53 at the close. Kogan.com Ltd (ASX:KGN) declined 6.51% or 0.22 points to end at 3.16 and Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX:NIC) was down 6.29% or 0.06 points to 0.82.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 1053 to 342 and 366 ended unchanged.
Shares in Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC) rose to all time highs; up 2.68% or 0.24 to 9.20. Shares in Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX:NIC) fell to 52-week lows; losing 6.29% or 0.06 to 0.82.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 8.93% to 19.07 a new 3-months high.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.41% or 6.85 to $1,674.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November fell 1.58% or 1.32 to hit $82.17 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract fell 1.48% or 1.34 to trade at $89.12 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.56% to 0.66, while AUD/JPY fell 0.61% to 93.98.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.43% at 111.59.