Title: Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 1.25%

Jun 10, 2022 03:45AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

Australian equities declined after the close of trading on Friday as losses in A-REITs, gold and consumer cyclicals drove stocks lower.

The S&P/ASX 200 index was down 1.25% at the close of trading in Sydney, hitting a new three-month low.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO), which rose 4.03% or 3.21 points to 82.93 at the close of trading. Meanwhile, shares of Healius Ltd (ASX:HLS) added 2.13% or 0.08 points to 3.84 and James Hardie Industries PLC (ASX:JHX) rose 1.66% or 0.57 points to 34.87 at the close of trading.

Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH) was the worst performer of the session, falling 5.79% or 0.14 points to trade at 2.28 at the close. Sims Metal Management Ltd (ASX:SGM) was down 5.75% or 1.06 points at 17.39 and Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX:LYC) was down 5.72% or 0.52 points at 8.57.

On the Sydney Stock Exchange, falling shares outnumbered rising shares by 1,102 against 340, while 373 shares were unchanged.

Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:PBH) shares fell to 52-week lows, losing 5.79% or 0.14 points to 2.28.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, rose 4.75% to 17.85.

Gold futures for August delivery fell 0.19%, or 3.50, to $1,849.30 a troy ounce. In commodities markets, crude oil for July delivery fell 0.56% or 0.68% to $120.83 per barrel, while Brent crude for August delivery fell 0.55% or 0.68% to $122.39 per barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged by 0.54% at 0.71 and AUD/JPY fell 0.08% to 95.25.

US dollar index futures were down 0.14% to 103.07.