Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.41%

Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the IT, Utilities and Consumer Staples sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.41%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Regis Resources Ltd (ASX:RRL), which rose 6.67% or 0.16 points to trade at 2.56 at the close. Meanwhile, Bank Of Queensland Ltd. (ASX:BOQ) added 6.54% or 0.41 points to end at 6.68 and Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX:EVN) was up 6.82% or 0.32 points to 5.01 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB), which fell 5.50% or 0.08 points to trade at 1.38 at the close. Nuix Ltd (ASX:NXL) declined 5.36% or 0.38 points to end at 6.71 and Idp Education Ltd (ASX:IEL) was down 5.04% or 0.69 points to 13.00.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 652 to 421 and 481 ended unchanged.

Shares in Regis Resources Ltd (ASX:RRL) rose to 3-years highs; up 6.67% or 0.16 to 2.56. Shares in Bank Of Queensland Ltd. (ASX:BOQ) rose to 52-week highs; rising 6.54% or 0.41 to 6.68. Shares in Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX:EVN) rose to 3-years highs; up 6.82% or 0.32 to 5.01. Shares in Idp Education Ltd (ASX:IEL) fell to 3-years lows; falling 5.04% or 0.69 to 13.00.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 1.08% to 12.04.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.15% or 4.15 to $2,683.05 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 0.27% or 0.19 to hit $70.77 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 0.19% or 0.14 to trade at $74.39 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.15% to 0.67, while AUD/JPY fell 0.13% to 99.90.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.03% at 103.03.