Australian stocks closed lower on Friday, with the S&P/ASX 200 declining by 0.03%. The Consumer Staples, Industrials, and Utilities sectors experienced losses, leading to the overall decrease in shares.
At the close in Sydney, the best performers on the S&P/ASX 200 included Austal Ltd (ASX: ASB), rising by 6.92%, Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH), gaining 5.62%, and Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC), up by 3.53%.
Conversely, the worst performers included Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX: OBL), falling by 5.13%, EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML), declining by 3.66%, and Abacus Property Group (ASX: ABG), down by 2.90%.
Rising stocks slightly outnumbered declining ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange, with 593 gaining, 558 declining, and 367 remaining unchanged.
Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX: OBL) reached a 5-year low during the session, falling by 5.13% to 1.29.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery increased by 0.47% to $2,061.00 per troy ounce. Crude oil for delivery in February rose by 0.83% to $74.50 a barrel, and the February Brent oil contract increased by 0.79% to $80.02 a barrel.
The AUD/USD remained unchanged at 0.68, while AUD/JPY fell by 0.09% to 96.57. The US Dollar Index Futures increased by 0.04% to 101.52.