Title: Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.94%

Mar 11, 2022 02:45AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

Australian stocks were trading lower after the closing bell on Friday as declines in the IT, consumer cyclical, and A-REIT sectors drove stocks lower.

At the closing bell in Sydney, the S & P/ASX 200 lost 0.94%.

Champion Iron Ltd led the S& P/ASX 200, rising 4.58%, or 0.30 points, to close at 6.85.

Meanwhile, Alumina Ltd gained 3.05% or 0.06 points to close at 2.03, and South32 Ltd rose 2.95% or 0.14 points to 4.89 in late trading.

Zip Co Ltd was the worst performer, falling 7.62% or 0.13 points to close at 1.57. At 1.14, Mesoblast Ltd fell 6.91%, or 0.09 points, to close at 1.14, and Magellan Financial Group Ltd fell 6.76%, or 1.03 points, to 14.20.

On the Sydney Stock Exchange, falling shares outweighed rising ones by 742 to 608, and 382 ended unchanged.

Shares of Zip Co Ltd fell to a 52-week low, losing 7.62% or 0.13 to 1.57, while Magellan Financial Group Ltd shares fell to a 5-year low, dropping 6.76% or 1.03 to 14.20.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, increased 16.76% to 19.99, setting a new one-month high.

Gold futures for April delivery fell 0.34%, or 6.80, to $1,993.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodity trading, crude oil for delivery in April rose 2.02%, or $2.14, to $108.16 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract gained 2.39%, or $2.61, to $111.94 a barrel.

The AUD/USD rate remained unchanged at 0.12% to 0.73, while the AUD/JPY rate rose 0.42% to 85.79.

Futures on the US dollar index rose 0.05% to 98.55.