Australia's equity market finished the trading day lower on Friday, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 declining 0.08% at the close in Sydney. Sector weakness in Gold, Metals & Mining and Materials contributed to the overall drop.
Top gainers
- Summerset Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:SNZ) led the index's winners, rising 5.30% or 0.35 points to close at 6.96.
- Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX:SUN) added 4.90% or 0.80 points, finishing the session at 17.12.
- Austal Ltd (ASX:ASB) climbed 4.51% or 0.20 points to end at 4.63.
Largest decliners
- IGO Ltd (ASX:IGO) posted the heaviest loss among index constituents, falling 17.33% or 1.48 points to close at 7.06.
- EVT Ltd (ASX:EVT) declined 7.76% or 1.07 points to finish at 12.72.
- Contact Energy Ltd (ASX:CEN) was down 6.01% or 0.49 points to end the day at 7.66.
On the broader exchange, declining issues outnumbered advancing ones by 609 to 489, while 403 stocks finished unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, the measure of implied volatility for S&P/ASX 200 options, fell 3.10% to 12.93 by the close.
Commodities and currencies
- Gold futures for June delivery decreased 0.78% or 36.99 to trade at $4,687.01 a troy ounce.
- Crude oil for June delivery rose 0.21% or 0.20 to $96.05 a barrel.
- The June Brent contract increased 0.40% or 0.42 to $105.49 a barrel.
In currency markets, AUD/USD was unchanged 0.06% to 0.71, while AUD/JPY slipped 0.09% to 113.76. The US Dollar Index Futures ticked up 0.09% to 98.69.
This session left the market directionally muted, with certain resources names driving headline moves while defensive and financial stocks showed selective strength.