Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.89%

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At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.89%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Origin Energy Ltd (ASX:ORG), which rose 2.42% or 0.19 points to trade at 8.05 at the close. Meanwhile, Unibail Rodamco Westfield (ASX:URW) added 2.25% or 0.11 points to end at 4.99 and Perenti Global Ltd (ASX:PRN) was up 2.24% or 0.03 points to 1.14 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB), which fell 17.97% or 0.07 points to trade at 0.32 at the close. Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) declined 9.07% or 0.32 points to end at 3.21 and St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) was down 6.98% or 0.02 points to 0.20.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 851 to 350 and 367 ended unchanged.

Shares in Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) fell to all time lows; losing 17.97% or 0.07 to 0.32. Shares in Unibail Rodamco Westfield (ASX:URW) rose to 52-week highs; up 2.25% or 0.11 to 4.99. Shares in Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) fell to 52-week lows; losing 9.07% or 0.32 to 3.21.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 7.32% to 10.98.

Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.45% or 9.20 to $2,051.40 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.14% or 0.10 to hit $73.14 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.05% or 0.04 to trade at $78.07 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.56% to 0.66, while AUD/JPY fell 0.65% to 96.83.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.10% at 103.54.