Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.15%

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 fell 0.15%.

The best performers of the session on the were Ingenia Communities Group (ASX:), which rose 4.59% or 0.18 points to trade at 4.10 at the close. Meanwhile, Monadelphous Group Ltd (ASX:) added 2.58% or 0.33 points to end at 13.12 and Flight Centre Ltd (ASX:) was up 2.26% or 0.49 points to 22.14 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX:), which fell 7.48% or 5.67 points to trade at 70.11 at the close. Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX:) declined 5.28% or 1.46 points to end at 26.19 and Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:) was down 4.51% or 0.23 points to 4.87.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 661 to 562 and 436 ended unchanged.

Shares in Flight Centre Ltd (ASX:) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 2.26% or 0.49 to 22.14.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 1.09% to 10.76.

Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.10% or 2.05 to $1,968.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 1.10% or 0.83 to hit $76.48 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 1.04% or 0.83 to trade at $80.47 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.19% to 0.68, while AUD/JPY rose 0.51% to 95.45.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.06% at 100.66.