Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 3.60%

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

At the close in Sydney, the lost 3.60% to hit a new 52-week low.

The best performers of the session on the were Austal Ltd (ASX:), which rose 5.50% or 0.17 points to trade at 3.26 at the close. Meanwhile, Steadfast Group Ltd (ASX:) added 4.38% or 0.14 points to end at 3.34 and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:) was up 2.62% or 0.240 points to 9.400 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:), which fell 13.04% or 0.030 points to trade at 0.200 at the close. NRW Holdings Ltd (ASX:) declined 11.68% or 0.23 points to end at 1.74 and Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX:) was down 9.92% or 0.130 points to 1.180.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 809 to 413 and 254 ended unchanged.

Shares in Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:) fell to 3-years lows; down 13.04% or 0.030 to 0.200. Shares in NRW Holdings Ltd (ASX:) fell to 52-week lows; down 11.68% or 0.23 to 1.74.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 19.33% to 35.836 a new 5-year high.

Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.16% or 2.60 to $1662.90 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 0.99% or 0.34 to hit $34.70 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 1.75% or 0.65 to trade at $37.87 a barrel.

AUD/USD was down 0.08% to 0.6500, while AUD/JPY fell 1.32% to 67.80.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.48% at 95.927.

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