Title: Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.83%

Mar 08, 2022 02:45AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

Australian shares were lower after the close on Tuesday as declines in the commodities, metals, mining, and energy sections led stocks down.

At the end of trading in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.83% and touched a new 1-month low.

St Barbara Ltd. was the strongest performer on the S&P/ASX 200, gaining 12.68%, or 0.18 points, to end at 1.60 at the close. Mesoblast Ltd rose 4.04% or 0.04 points to finish at 1.03 and Westgold Resources Ltd increased 3.81% or 0.09 points to 2.45 in the late trade.

Nickel Mines Ltd. was the poorest performer, dropping 10.61% or 0.18 points to finish at 1.48. Bluescope Steel Ltd declined 8.83% or 1.84 points to end at 18.99, and South32 Ltd dropped 6.53% or 0.35 points to 5.01.

On the Sydney Stock Exchange, declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 991 to 435, and 379 ended flat.

Westgold Resources Ltd shares surged to a 52-week high, climbing 3.81% or 0.09 to 2.45.

The S& P/ASX 200 VIX, which tracks the implied volatility of S& P/ASX 200 options, increased 1.31% to 18.94.

Gold futures for April delivery increased 1.52%, or $30.40, to $2,026.30 a troy ounce.

Elsewhere in commodity trading, crude oil for April delivery increased 2.48%, or 2.96, to $122.36 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract gained 3.13%, or 3.86, to $127.07 a barrel.

AUD/USD was steady at 0.36% to 0.73, while AUD/JPY fell 0.27% to 84.14.

US dollar index futures decreased 0.15% to 99.15.