Title: Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.13%

Feb 07, 2022 02:45AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

Australian stocks fell after the close on Monday as losses in the A-REITs, healthcare, and telecom services sectors led shares to lower.

At the close of trading in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.13%.

Within the S&P/ASX 200 index, Graincorp Ltd. was the best performer, rising 12.34%, or 0.89 points, to trade at 8.10 points at the close of the session. Meanwhile, Flight Centre Ltd. added 7.80%, or 1.37 points, to end at 18.94 and Corporate Travel Management Ltd. rose 7.00%, or 1.44 points, to close at 22.02 in late trading.

Magellan Financial Group Ltd. was the worst performer during the session, falling 11.24%, or 2.08 points, to trade at 16.43 points at the close of trade. Appen Ltd. dropped 5.81%, or 0.55 points, to close at 8.91 points, and Unibail Rodamco Westfield fell 5.25%, or 0.28 points, to close at 5.05 points.

On the Sydney Stock Exchange, declining shares outnumbered rising ones by a ratio of 717 to 697, and 374 ended unchanged.

Magellan Financial Group Ltd. shares fell 11.24 percent, or 2.08 points, to 16.43 points, a five-year low.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 Index options, increased 5.65% to 15.520 points.

Gold futures for April delivery rose 0.22%, or 3.95%, to $1,811.75 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, the crude oil contract for March delivery fell 0.73%, or 0.67, to $91.64 per barrel, while the April Brent crude oil contract fell 0.25%, or 0.23, to trade at $93.04 per barrel.

AUD/USD rose by 0.30% to 0.7097, while AUD/JPY rose 0.36% to 81.818.

Futures on the US dollar index rose 0.05% to 95.528.