Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Metals & Mining, Resources and Materials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.43%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX:EVN), which rose 8.00% or 0.080 points to trade at 1.080 at the close. Meanwhile, Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX:NST) added 4.29% or 0.090 points to end at 2.190 and Arrium Ltd (ASX:ARI) was up 4.00% or 0.005 points to 0.130 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (ASX:LNG), which fell 6.91% or 0.270 points to trade at 3.640 at the close. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) declined 6.00% or 0.105 points to end at 1.645 and Transfield Services Ltd (ASX:TSE) was down 3.99% or 0.055 points to 1.325.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 498 to 464 and 162 ended unchanged.
Shares in Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) fell to 5-year lows; losing 6.00% or 0.105 to 1.645.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 5.49% to 15.917.
Gold for August delivery was up 0.28% or 3.10 to $1094.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 0.13% or 0.07 to hit $49.26 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 0.16% or 0.09 to trade at $56.04 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.13% to 0.7366, while AUD/JPY fell 0.11% to 91.34.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.04% at 97.58.