Australian stocks ended the trading day lower on Friday, with losses concentrated in Gold, Information Technology and Metals & Mining names weighing on the benchmark. At the Sydney close the S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.75%.
The benchmark finished at 8,772.30, slipping 66.70 points from the previous session, a decline of 0.75%.
On the S&P/ASX 200, the best-performing issues included Austal Ltd (ASB), which rose 2.91% or 0.11 points to finish at 3.89. Stockland Corporation Ltd (SGP) gained 2.60% or 0.11 points to close at 4.14, and Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (TWE) added 2.49% or 0.12 points to end the day at 4.72.
At the other end of the ledger, Centuria Capital Ltd (CNI) recorded a sharp drop of 8.18% or 0.13 points to close at 1.46, falling to 52-week lows. ALS Ltd (ALQ) declined 7.27% or 1.61 points to finish at 20.53, while Liontown Resources Ltd (LTR) slid 7.23% or 0.09 points to 1.19.
Market breadth was tilted toward sellers, with 748 stocks falling and 327 advancing on the Sydney exchange; 365 issues finished unchanged.
Volatility as captured by the S&P/ASX 200 VIX rose 6.88% to 11.69, signaling an uptick in implied volatility for options on the index.
Commodities traded mixed on the session. Gold futures for August delivery were down 0.30% or 12.03 to $4,038.17 a troy ounce. In oil markets, September West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.93% or 0.86 to $91.33 a barrel, and the September Brent contract slipped 0.76% or 0.77 to $99.92 a barrel.
Currency moves were modest. AUD/USD was quoted unchanged 0.17% to 0.70, while AUD/JPY rose 0.14% to 114.34. The US Dollar Index Futures edged down 0.07% to 101.22.
Summary of session impact:
- The S&P/ASX 200 ended lower, with material pressure from Gold, IT and Metals & Mining sectors.
- Several large percentage moves were recorded among individual stocks, including steep declines for CNI, ALQ and LTR and gains for ASB, SGP and TWE.
- Implied volatility increased, and commodities such as gold and crude oil moved lower on the day.