Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.03% By Investing.com

Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Tuesday, as losses in the , and sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Sydney, the lost 0.03%.

The best performers of the session on the were Zip Co Ltd (ASX:), which rose 4.51% or 0.03 points to trade at 0.69 at the close. Meanwhile, Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:) added 3.73% or 0.93 points to end at 25.88 and Metcash Ltd (ASX:) was up 2.74% or 0.11 points to 4.13 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Austal Ltd (ASX:), which fell 9.41% or 0.19 points to trade at 1.83 at the close. Polynovo Ltd (ASX:) declined 6.56% or 0.17 points to end at 2.42 and Appen Ltd (ASX:) was down 5.73% or 0.16 points to 2.63.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 696 to 571 and 396 ended unchanged.

Shares in Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 3.73% or 0.93 to 25.88.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 4.17% to 12.71.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.49% or 9.35 to $1,912.35 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March fell 0.91% or 0.73 to hit $79.38 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 0.01% or 0.01 to trade at $84.47 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.07% to 0.70, while AUD/JPY rose 0.27% to 89.61.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.17% at 102.11.