Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.21% By Investing.com

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

At the close in Sydney, the declined 0.21% to hit a new 1-month low.

The best performers of the session on the were Perenti Global Ltd (ASX:), which rose 10.60% or 0.12 points to trade at 1.20 at the close. Meanwhile, St Barbara Ltd (ASX:) added 4.90% or 0.04 points to end at 0.75 and Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX:) was up 4.86% or 0.04 points to 0.76 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX:), which fell 17.83% or 0.46 points to trade at 2.12 at the close. Polynovo Ltd (ASX:) declined 6.83% or 0.14 points to end at 1.91 and Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:) was down 6.78% or 0.12 points to 1.65.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 724 to 533 and 376 ended unchanged.

Shares in Perenti Global Ltd (ASX:) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 10.60% or 0.12 to 1.20. Shares in Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX:) fell to 52-week lows; down 17.83% or 0.46 to 2.12. Shares in Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX:) fell to 52-week lows; falling 6.78% or 0.12 to 1.65.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 3.85% to 12.23.

Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.15% or 2.75 to $1,802.95 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.47% or 0.35 to hit $74.81 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.38% or 0.30 to trade at $79.34 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.37% to 0.67, while AUD/JPY fell 0.16% to 91.21.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.24% at 104.08.