Investing.com – Australia equities were lower at the close on Friday, as losses in the Metals & Mining, Materials and Resources sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 1.96% to hit a new 3-month low.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Resolute Mining Ltd (AX:RSG), which rose 3.25% or 0.040 points to trade at 1.270 at the close. Newcrest Mining Ltd (AX:NCM) added 1.12% or 0.220 points to end at 19.890 and Northern Star Resources Ltd (AX:NST) was up 0.89% or 0.060 points to 6.770 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Bluescope Steel Ltd (AX:BSL), which lost 5.99% or 0.940 points to trade at 14.760 in late trade. Mineral Resources Ltd (AX:MIN) declined 5.71% or 1.060 points to end at 17.500 and South32 Ltd (AX:S32) shed 5.33% or 0.180 points to 3.200.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 937 to 312 and 320 ended unchanged on the Sydney Stock Exchange.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 26.02% to 15.591.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.83% or 11.00 to $1338.40 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 1.04% or 0.67 to hit $64.97 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 0.89% or 0.61 to trade at $69.52 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.23% to 0.7711, while AUD/JPY fell 0.25% to 80.80.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.29% at 89.21.