Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.23% By Investing.com

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

At the close in Sydney, the fell 0.23%.

The best performers of the session on the were Iress Ltd (ASX:), which rose 4.51% or 0.47 points to trade at 10.89 at the close. Meanwhile, APA Group (ASX:) added 4.20% or 0.45 points to end at 11.16 and Rea Group Ltd (ASX:) was up 3.89% or 3.86 points to 103.20 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were St Barbara Ltd (ASX:), which fell 18.14% or 0.21 points to trade at 0.93 at the close. Zip Co Ltd (ASX:) declined 11.43% or 0.06 points to end at 0.47 and Blackmores Ltd (ASX:) was down 8.90% or 6.38 points to 65.31.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 911 to 562 and 354 ended unchanged.

Shares in St Barbara Ltd (ASX:) fell to 5-year lows; falling 18.14% or 0.21 to 0.93. Shares in Zip Co Ltd (ASX:) fell to 5-year lows; falling 11.43% or 0.06 to 0.47. Shares in Blackmores Ltd (ASX:) fell to 52-week lows; falling 8.90% or 6.38 to 65.31.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 2.28% to 20.21.

Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.45% or 8.35 to $1,830.45 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 5.30% or 5.80 to hit $103.72 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract fell 4.84% or 5.55 to trade at $109.10 a barrel.

AUD/USD was down 1.03% to 0.69, while AUD/JPY fell 1.29% to 93.96.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.31% at 104.53.