Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 2.16% By Investing.com

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

At the close in Sydney, the declined 2.16% to hit a new 1-month low.

The best performers of the session on the were Polynovo Ltd (ASX:), which rose 4.05% or 0.04 points to trade at 0.90 at the close. Meanwhile, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Ltd (ASX:) added 2.27% or 0.44 points to end at 19.84 and Coles Group Ltd (ASX:) was up 1.03% or 0.19 points to 18.67 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Xero Ltd (ASX:), which fell 9.07% or 8.63 points to trade at 86.57 at the close. Virgin Money PLC (ASX:) declined 8.47% or 0.26 points to end at 2.81 and Idp Education Ltd (ASX:) was down 8.18% or 2.21 points to 24.80.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 1245 to 274 and 335 ended unchanged.

Shares in Xero Ltd (ASX:) fell to 52-week lows; falling 9.07% or 8.63 to 86.57. Shares in Virgin Money PLC (ASX:) fell to 52-week lows; falling 8.47% or 0.26 to 2.81.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 16.44% to 17.00 a new 1-month high.

Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.05% or 0.89 to $1,874.81 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 0.17% or 0.18 to hit $108.44 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 0.23% or 0.25 to trade at $111.15 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.53% to 0.71, while AUD/JPY fell 0.29% to 92.27.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.16% at 103.97.