Investing.com – Australia stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the IT, A-REITs and Metals & Mining sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.03%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Codan Ltd (ASX:CDA), which rose 16.83% or 5.31 points to trade at 36.87 at the close. Meanwhile, AP Eagers Ltd (ASX:APE) added 5.07% or 1.29 points to end at 26.72 and James Hardie Industries PLC (ASX:JHX) was up 4.64% or 1.43 points to 32.27 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO), which fell 6.20% or 9.46 points to trade at 143.17 at the close. Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX:NIC) declined 4.17% or 0.04 points to end at 0.92 and Guzman Y Gomez Ltd (ASX:GYG) was down 3.30% or 0.71 points to 20.79.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 574 to 568 and 385 ended unchanged.
Shares in Codan Ltd (ASX:CDA) rose to all time highs; gaining 16.83% or 5.31 to 36.87. Shares in Guzman Y Gomez Ltd (ASX:GYG) fell to all time lows; falling 3.30% or 0.71 to 20.79.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 1.63% to 10.03.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.35% or 15.69 to $4,476.39 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.69% or 0.40 to hit $58.16 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 0.68% or 0.42 to trade at $62.41 a barrel.
AUD/USD was unchanged 0.01% to 0.67, while AUD/JPY rose 0.27% to 105.37.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.02% at 98.71.
