Investing.com – Australia equities were lower at the close on Thursday, as losses in the Gold, Metals & Mining and Resources sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 1.20% to hit a new 1-month low.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Ardent Leisure Group (AX:AAD), which rose 7.50% or 0.150 points to trade at 2.150 at the close. Challenger Ltd (AX:CGF) added 4.39% or 0.460 points to end at 10.950 and OZ Minerals Ltd (AX:OZL) was up 2.96% or 0.180 points to 6.260 in late trade.
Biggest losers included APN News & Media Ltd (AX:APN), which lost 11.27% or 0.352 points to trade at 2.770 in late trade. Resolute Mining Ltd (AX:RSG) declined 10.39% or 0.185 points to end at 1.595 and Syrah Res F (AX:SYR) shed 8.91% or 0.350 points to 3.580.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 671 to 371 and 298 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 5.11% to 15.437 a new 1-month high.
In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was up 0.15% or 1.95 to $1268.55 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 0.22% or 0.11 to hit $49.29 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 0.22% or 0.11 to trade at $50.09 a barrel.
AUD/USD was down 0.25% to 0.7632, while AUD/JPY fell 0.16% to 79.79.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.08% at 98.67.