Investing.com – Australia equities were lower at the close on Monday, as losses in the Financials, Consumer Staples and Telecoms Services sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.52% to hit a new 3-month low.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Resolute Mining Ltd (AX:RSG), which rose 2.76% or 0.035 points to trade at 1.305 at the close. Northern Star Resources Ltd (AX:NST) added 2.65% or 0.180 points to end at 6.960 and Retail Food Group Ltd (AX:RFG) was up 2.43% or 0.025 points to 1.055 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia Ltd (AX:GMA), which lost 3.83% or 0.090 points to trade at 2.260 in late trade. Galaxy Resources Ltd (AX:GXY) declined 3.66% or 0.120 points to end at 3.160 and Syrah Resources Ltd (AX:SYR) shed 3.55% or 0.130 points to 3.530.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 735 to 499 and 362 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 5.16% to 16.395 a new 1-month high.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.39% or 5.20 to $1344.70 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 0.53% or 0.35 to hit $65.53 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 0.33% or 0.23 to trade at $69.58 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.31% to 0.7723, while AUD/JPY rose 0.61% to 81.12.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.02% at 89.08.