Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Financials, Utilities and Consumer Discretionary sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.16% to hit a new 52-week low.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Bluescope Steel Ltd (AX:BSL), which rose 14.16% or 0.620 points to trade at 5.000 at the close. Meanwhile, Independence Group NL (AX:IGO) added 9.13% or 0.240 points to end at 2.870 and AWE Ltd (AX:AWE) was up 5.33% or 0.020 points to 0.395 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Henderson Group PLC (AX:HGG), which fell 7.83% or 0.390 points to trade at 4.590 at the close. BT Investment Management Ltd (AX:BTT) declined 5.90% or 0.520 points to end at 8.300 and ALS Ltd (AX:ALQ) was down 5.88% or 0.200 points to 3.200.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Australia Stock Exchange by 579 to 331 and 255 ended unchanged.
Shares in Henderson Group PLC (AX:HGG) fell to 52-week lows; losing 7.83% or 0.390 to 4.590. Shares in ALS Ltd (AX:ALQ) fell to 5-year lows; losing 5.88% or 0.200 to 3.200.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 14.64% to 30.289 a new 3-months high.
Gold for April delivery was down 0.24% or 3.00 to $1244.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 4.25% or 1.11 to hit $27.32 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 4.41% or 1.32 to trade at $31.39 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.10% to 0.7101, while AUD/JPY fell 0.63% to 79.42.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.03% at 95.60.