Title: Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 1.00%

Feb 22, 2022 02:45AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

Australian stocks were lower after the close on Tuesday as shares fell in the IT, consumer discretionary, and A-REIT sectors.

At the close of trading in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 index was down 1.00%.

At the close of the session, Monadelphous Group Ltd. was the best performer, rising 10.56%, or 1.05 points, to trade at 10.99 points. Meanwhile, Cochlear Ltd. added 9.00%, or 17.12 points, to end at 207.37 points and Costa Group Holdings Ltd. gained 8.67%, or 0.260 points, to close trading at 3.260 points.

Nanosonics Ltd was the worst performer during the session, falling 13.14% or 0.62 points to close trading at 4.10 points. Zip Co., Ltd. fell 9.70% or 0.23 points to end at 2.14 and Perenti Global Ltd. fell 8.02% or 0.065 points to close at 0.745.

On the Sydney Stock Exchange, declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones by 1,278 to 292, and 289 ended unchanged.

Shares of Nanosonics Ltd. plunged to a 52-week low, falling 13.14%, or 0.62 points, to 4.10 points. Shares of Zip Co Ltd plunged to 52-week lows as they fell 9.70%, or 0.23 points, to 2.14 points.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX index, which measures implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, increased 9.04% to 17.501 points.

Gold futures for April delivery rose 0.63%, or 12.05%, to $1,911.85 a troy ounce.

Elsewhere in commodities trading, crude oil for April delivery rose 3.68%, or $3.32, to close at $93.53 a barrel, while the May Brent crude oil contract rose 2.10%, or $1.95, to trade at $94.94 a barrel.

The AUD/USD currency pair gained 0.22% to 0.7206, while the AUD/JPY currency pair strengthened 0.21% to 82.68.

Futures on the US dollar index increased 0.10% to 96.112.