Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.28% 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 declined 0.28% to hit a new 1-month low.

The best performers of the session on the were South32 Ltd (ASX:), which rose 3.97% or 0.140 points to trade at 3.670 at the close. Meanwhile, Waypoint REIT Ltd (ASX:) added 3.11% or 0.080 points to end at 2.650 and Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX:) was up 2.71% or 0.240 points to 9.110 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were GUD Holdings Ltd (ASX:), which fell 7.58% or 0.88 points to trade at 10.78 at the close. Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX:) declined 7.39% or 4.62 points to end at 57.86 and Idp Education Ltd (ASX:) was down 6.00% or 2.10 points to 32.88.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 978 to 430 and 368 ended unchanged.

Shares in Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX:) rose to 5-year highs; up 2.71% or 0.240 to 9.110.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 5.75% to 15.203.

Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.67% or 11.90 to $1788.40 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 3.37% or 2.23 to hit $68.41 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 3.67% or 2.54 to trade at $71.77 a barrel.

AUD/USD was up 0.45% to 0.7155, while AUD/JPY rose 0.70% to 81.14.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.03% at 95.975.