May 24, 2024 – Australia stocks closed lower on Friday, with losses in the Consumer Discretionary, A-REITs, and IT sectors leading shares downward.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell by 1.08%.
Among the session’s top performers on the S&P/ASX 200 were Skycity Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX:SKC), which rose by 5.26% or 0.09 points to trade at 1.70 at the close. Polynovo Ltd (ASX:PNV) added 2.96% or 0.06 points, ending at 2.09, while Challenger Ltd (ASX:CGF) was up by 2.95% or 0.19 points to 6.63 in late trade.
On the flip side, the session’s worst performers included Fletcher Building Ltd (ASX:FBU), which fell by 5.59% or 0.17 points to trade at 2.79 at the close. Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX:TWE) declined by 3.90% or 0.47 points, closing at 11.57, and Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX:WES) dropped by 3.88% or 2.57 points to 63.74.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 739 to 427, with 463 ending unchanged.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, rose by 8.35% to 11.66.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery rose by 0.03% or 0.65 to $2,337.85 a troy ounce. Crude oil for delivery in July fell by 0.01% or 0.01 to hit $76.86 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose by 0.04% or 0.03 to trade at $81.39 a barrel.
The AUD/USD pair remained unchanged at 0.66, while AUD/JPY rose by 0.01% to 103.68.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down by 0.06% at 104.97.