Title: Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.43%

Jul 01, 2022 03:45AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

Australian stocks fell after the close on Friday, with losses in the energy, resources, metals and mining sectors leading shares lower.

At the close of the Sydney session, the S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.43 percent.

The best performing stock on the S & P/ASX 200 during the session was Austal Ltd., which rose 25.00%, or 0.45 points, to close at 2.25.

Meanwhile, Mesoblast Ltd added 11.48% or 0.07 points to end at 0.68 points and Zip Co Ltd rose 9.09% or 0.04 points to end at 0.48 points in late trade.

The worst performer during the session was Woodside Energy Ltd, which fell 4.37 per cent, or 1.39 points, to trade at 30.45 at the close.

Mineral Resources Ltd fell 4.12 per cent or 1.99 points to 46.28 points and Polinovo Ltd dropped 3.69 per cent or 0.05 points to 1.30 points.

On the Sydney Stock Exchange, advancing shares outnumbered decliners by 884 to 467, while 343 ended unchanged.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX index fell 1.08 percent to 18.97 points, measuring the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options.

Gold futures for August delivery fell 0.62 percent, or 11.25 cents an ounce, to $1,796.05.

Elsewhere in commodities trading, crude oil for August delivery fell 0.32%, or 0.34, to $105.42 a barrel, and the September Brent crude contract fell 0.13%, or 0.14, to $108.89 a barrel.

The Australian AUD/USD pair fell 1.38% to 0.68, while AUD/JPY dropped 1.79% to 91.9.

ICE US Dollar Index futures rose 0.22% to 104.70.