Title: Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.78%

Apr 27, 2022 03:45AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

Australian shares were down after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the gold, IT and consumer staples sectors led stocks lower.

At the close of trading in Sydney, the S & P/ASX 200 fell 0.78%, hitting a new 1-month low.

Whitehaven Coal Ltd, which rose 5.45%, or 0.24 points, to close trading at 4.64 on the S&P/ASX 200, was among the best performers. Edi Ltd gained 4.72%, or 0.24 points, to close at 5.33 and Champion Iron Ltd rose 3.39%, or 0.23 points, to 7.02 in late trading.

The worst performer was Credit Corp Group Ltd, which fell 9.50% or 2.81 points to close at 26.77.Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. fell 8.61%, or 0.26 points, to close at 2.76, and EML Payments Ltd. dropped 5.71%, or 0.10 points, to 1.57.

On the Sydney Stock Exchange, falling shares outweighed rising ones by 1001 to 464, and 383 ended unchanged.

Pointsbet Holdings Ltd shares fell to a 52-week low, losing 8.61% or 0.26 to 2.76, while EML Payments Ltd shares fell to a 52-week low, dropping 5.71% or 0.10 to 1.57.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, increased 5.08% to 17.16, a new one-month high.

Gold futures for June delivery fell 0.15%, or 2.85, to $1,901.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodity trading, crude oil for June delivery rose 0.69%, or 0.70, to $102.40 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 0.79%, or 0.83, to $105.44 a barrel.

The AUD/USD rate remained unchanged at 0.44% to 0.72, while the AUD/JPY rate rose 0.92% to 91.42.

Futures on the US dollar index rose 0.30% to 102.63.