Investing.com – Australia equities were lower at the close on Tuesday, as losses in the Information Technology, Energy and Health Care sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.25% to hit a new 3-year high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Slater & Gordon Ltd (ASX:SGH), which rose 8.62% or 0.570 points to trade at 7.180 at the close. Tabcorp Holdings Ltd (ASX:TAH) added 6.82% or 0.318 points to end at 4.980 and Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) was up 4.21% or 0.180 points to 4.460 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Bradken Ltd (ASX:BKN), which lost 22.22% or 0.700 points to trade at 2.450 in late trade. BC Iron Ltd (ASX:BCI) declined 5.79% or 0.035 points to end at 0.570 and Alumina Ltd (ASX:AWC) shed 5.78% or 0.115 points to 1.875.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 311 to 250 and 46 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 down 1.92% to 16.142.
In commodities trading, Gold for April delivery was up 0.27% or 3.30 to $1244.80 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude Oil for delivery in March fell 1.50% or 0.80 to hit $52.06 a barrel, while the April Brent Oil contract fell 0.98% or 0.58 to trade at $58.50 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.25% to 0.7822, while AUD/JPY rose 0.19% to 92.73.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.16% at 94.55.