Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 1.75% By Investing.com

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

At the close in Sydney, the fell 1.75% to hit a new 3-months low.

The best performers of the session on the were Orica Ltd (ASX:), which rose 4.66% or 0.73 points to trade at 16.40 at the close. Meanwhile, AGL Energy Ltd (ASX:) added 1.71% or 0.14 points to end at 8.33 and Ampol Ltd (ASX:) was up 1.47% or 0.48 points to 33.13 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Altium Ltd (ASX:), which fell 16.69% or 5.05 points to trade at 25.20 at the close. Xero Ltd (ASX:) declined 11.58% or 10.07 points to end at 76.90 and Megaport Ltd (ASX:) was down 9.74% or 0.71 points to 6.58.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 1173 to 319 and 340 ended unchanged.

Shares in Xero Ltd (ASX:) fell to 52-week lows; down 11.58% or 10.07 to 76.90. Shares in Megaport Ltd (ASX:) fell to 52-week lows; down 9.74% or 0.71 to 6.58.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 2.54% to 19.27.

Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.24% or 4.36 to $1,849.34 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June fell 2.30% or 2.43 to hit $103.28 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract fell 2.01% or 2.16 to trade at $105.35 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.56% to 0.69, while AUD/JPY fell 1.44% to 88.85.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.37% at 104.26.