Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.67%

Australian Stock Market Update

Investing.com – Australian stocks closed lower on Friday, primarily due to losses in the Metals & Mining, Materials, and IT sectors.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.67%.

Best Performers

• Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB): up 10.74% (0.15 points) to 1.50.
• Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX:VEA): up 3.58% (0.11 points) to 3.04.
• Spark New Zealand Ltd (ASX:SPK): up 2.83% (0.08 points) to 2.91.

Worst Performers

• APA Group (ASX:APA): down 4.00% (0.31 points) to 7.44.
• Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS): down 3.81% (0.12 points) to 3.03.
• Nanosonics Ltd (ASX:NAN): down 3.79% (0.14 points) to 3.55.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange, with 602 declines, 457 advances, and 448 unchanged.

Shares in Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) reached 52-week highs, increasing by 10.74% (0.15 points) to 1.50.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, indicating implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, increased by 5.90% to 12.47.

Commodity Updates

• Gold Futures (December delivery): up 0.18% (4.80) to $2,684.00 per troy ounce.
• Crude Oil (November delivery): down 0.03% (0.02) to $73.69 per barrel.
• Brent Oil (December contract): down 0.01% (0.01) to $77.61 per barrel.

Currency Updates

• AUD/USD: unchanged at 0.68.
• AUD/JPY: down 0.55% to 99.95.
• US Dollar Index Futures: down 0.13% at 101.62.