Investing.com – Australia equities were lower at the close on Monday, as losses in the Healthcare, Energy and Real Estate Investment sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.40%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Bluescope Steel Ltd (AX:BSL), which rose 4.63% or 0.360 points to trade at 8.130 at the close. Australian Pharma Industries Ltd (AX:API) added 2.61% or 0.050 points to end at 1.965 and Genworth Fp (AX:GMA) was up 2.39% or 0.070 points to 3.000 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd (AX:CCL), which lost 6.63% or 0.670 points to trade at 9.430 in late trade. Healthscope (AX:HSO) declined 6.30% or 0.150 points to end at 2.230 and Resolute Mining Ltd (AX:RSG) shed 5.35% or 0.095 points to 1.680.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 588 to 425 and 314 ended unchanged on the Sydney Stock Exchange.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 5.65% to 13.538.
In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was down 0.12% or 1.55 to $1266.15 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in December fell 0.49% or 0.25 to hit $50.60 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract fell 0.41% or 0.21 to trade at $51.57 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.08% to 0.7615, while AUD/JPY rose 0.18% to 79.12.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.13% at 98.75.