Investing.com – Australia equities were lower at the close on Tuesday, as losses in the Financials, Energy and IT sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 2.88% to hit a new 52-week low.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Ozforex Grp (AX:OFX), which rose 12.85% or 0.230 points to trade at 2.020 at the close. Regis Resources Ltd (AX:RRL) added 12.30% or 0.310 points to end at 2.830 and Newcrest Mining Ltd (AX:NCM) was up 8.25% or 1.280 points to 16.800 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Broadspectrum Ltd (AX:BRS), which lost 13.15% or 0.165 points to trade at 1.090 in late trade. Bank Of Queensland Ltd. (AX:BOQ) declined 8.12% or 1.030 points to end at 11.660 and APN Outdoor Group Ltd (AX:APO) shed 7.90% or 0.430 points to 5.010.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 730 to 229 and 237 ended unchanged on the Sydney Stock Exchange.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 21.80% to 26.709 a new 3-month high.
In commodities trading, Gold for April delivery was down 0.38% or 4.50 to $1193.40 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 0.86% or 0.26 to hit $29.95 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract fell 0.11% or 0.04 to trade at $32.84 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.68% to 0.7040, while AUD/JPY fell 1.46% to 80.90.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.10% at 96.66.