Title: Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.98%

Feb 11, 2022 02:45AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

Australian shares traded lower after the close on Friday as losses in the IT, A-REITs and utilities sectors led stocks lower.

At the close of trading in Sydney, the S & P/ASX 200 was down 0.98%.

Among the best performers on the S & P/ASX 200 was Unibail Rodamco Westfield, which rose 6.46%, or 0.34 points, to close at 5.60. Meanwhile, Insurance Australia Group Ltd added 4.18%, or 0.190 points, to end at 4.740 and Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO) was up 2.86%, or 3.400 points, at 122.360 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Idp Education Ltd, which fell 8.06%, or 2.50 points, to trade at 28.53 at the close. Zip Co. Ltd. fell 7.17%, or 0.22 points, to 2.85, and Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. dropped 6.53%, or 0.34 points, to 4.87.

On the Sydney Stock Exchange, falling shares outweighed rising ones by 983 to 449, and 374 ended unchanged.

Shares of Zip Co Ltd fell to a 52-week low, dropping 7.17%, or 0.22, to 2.85.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, increased 22.67% to 16.817.

Gold futures for April delivery fell 0.66%, or 12.15, to $1825.25 per troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodity trading, crude oil for delivery in March fell 0.23%, or 0.21, to $89.67 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract fell 0.38%, or 0.35, to $91.06 a barrel.

The AUD/USD pair fell 0.56% to 0.7125, while the AUD/JPY pair fell 0.55% to 82.65.

Futures on the US dollar index rose 0.39% to 95.918.