Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.70%

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

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.70%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were ARB Corporation Ltd (ASX:ARB), which rose 8.14% or 2.96 points to trade at 39.34 at the close. Meanwhile, Seek Ltd (ASX:SEK) added 7.75% or 1.99 points to end at 27.66 and A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX:A2M) was up 5.04% or 0.42 points to 8.65 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were CSL Ltd (ASX:CSL), which fell 16.04% or 43.53 points to trade at 227.79 at the close. Reliance Worldwide Corporation Ltd (ASX:RWC) declined 6.96% or 0.32 points to end at 4.28 and Polynovo Ltd (ASX:PNV) was down 6.22% or 0.08 points to 1.13.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 635 to 481 and 428 ended unchanged.

Shares in CSL Ltd (ASX:CSL) fell to 5-year lows; losing 16.04% or 43.53 to 227.79. Shares in Seek Ltd (ASX:SEK) rose to 3-years highs; up 7.75% or 1.99 to 27.66.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 0.65% to 10.62.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.06% or 2.02 to $3,380.02 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 0.57% or 0.36 to hit $62.34 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract fell 0.53% or 0.35 to trade at $66.25 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.08% to 0.65, while AUD/JPY fell 0.29% to 95.72.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.01% at 98.01.