Title: Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 1.65%

May 19, 2022 03:45AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

Australian stocks fell after Thursday's close of trading as losses in the consumer staples, consumer goods and information technology sectors led stocks lower.

At the close of trading in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 index was down 1.65%.

At the close of the session, Aristocrat Leisure Ltd was the best performer, rising 6.74%, or 2.13 points, to trade at 33.73 points. Meanwhile, Polynovo Ltd added 3.24% or 0.04 points to end at 1.27 and Unibail Rodamco Westfield rose 2.08% or 0.11 points to close trading at 5.40.

Nufarm Ltd was the worst performer during the session, falling 8.58% or 0.57 points to trade at 6.07 points at the close of trade. Wesfarmers Ltd fell 7.83% or 3.90 points to end at 45.89 points and Pendal Group Ltd fell 7.10% or 0.37 points to close at 4.84 points.

On the Sydney Stock Exchange, declining shares outnumbered rising shares by a ratio of 1,072 to 372 and 335 shares ended unchanged.

Shares of Wesfarmers Ltd fell to a 52-week low, losing 7.83%, or 3.90 points, to 45.89 points.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX index, which measures implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, increased 10.91% to 18.41 points.

The AUD/USD exchange rate remained unchanged at 0.70, while the AUD/JPY exchange rate rose 0.23% to 89.38.

Futures on the US dollar index fell 0.08% to 103.78.