CANBERRA: Australia stocks were lower after the close on Monday, as losses in the Consumer Discretionary, Utilities and Healthcare sectors led shares lower. At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.53%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Bega Cheese Ltd (AX:BGA), which rose 4.30% or 0.280 points to trade at 6.790 at the close. Meanwhile, Blackmores Ltd (AX:BKL) added 3.82% or 3.66 points to end at 99.50 and Beach Energy Ltd (AX:BPT) was up 3.04% or 0.018 points to 0.593 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were Fairfax Media Ltd (AX:FXJ), which fell 10.45% or 0.115 points to trade at 0.985 at the close. Aveo Group (AX:AOG) declined 5.58% or 0.155 points to end at 2.625 and Vocus Group Ltd (AX:VOC) was down 4.45% or 0.150 points to 3.220. Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 591 to 524 and 335 ended unchanged. Shares in Bega Cheese Ltd (AX:BGA) rose to 52-week highs; rising 4.30% or 0.280 to 6.790. Shares in Aveo Group (AX:AOG) fell to 52-week lows; losing 5.58% or 0.155 to 2.625.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 3.67% to 13.881. Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.40% or 5.02 to $1237.28 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 0.35% or 0.16 to hit $46.20 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.21% or 0.10 to trade at $48.87 a barrel. AUD/USD was down 0.20% to 0.7675, while AUD/JPY fell 0.10% to 86.33. The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.17% at 95.55.
