Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Tuesday, as losses in the Resources, Metals & Mining and Energy sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.83% to hit a new 1-month low.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM), which rose 12.68% or 0.18 points to trade at 1.60 at the close. Meanwhile, Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) added 4.04% or 0.04 points to end at 1.03 and Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX:WGX) was up 3.81% or 0.09 points to 2.45 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX:NIC), which fell 10.61% or 0.18 points to trade at 1.48 at the close. Bluescope Steel Ltd (ASX:BSL) declined 8.83% or 1.84 points to end at 18.99 and South32 Ltd (ASX:S32) was down 6.53% or 0.35 points to 5.01.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 991 to 435 and 379 ended unchanged.
Shares in Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX:WGX) rose to 52-week highs; rising 3.81% or 0.09 to 2.45.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 1.31% to 18.94.
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 1.52% or 30.40 to $2,026.30 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 2.48% or 2.96 to hit $122.36 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 3.13% or 3.86 to trade at $127.07 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.36% to 0.73, while AUD/JPY fell 0.27% to 84.14.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.15% at 99.15.