Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 0.06%

Australia stocks were lower after the close on Monday, as losses in the IT, Utilities and Healthcare sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.06%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Yancoal Australia Ltd (ASX:YAL), which rose 6.16% or 0.33 points to trade at 5.69 at the close. Meanwhile, Contact Energy Ltd (ASX:CEN) added 4.56% or 0.34 points to end at 7.80 and Graincorp Ltd (ASX:GNC) was up 4.38% or 0.22 points to 5.24 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were PEXA Group Ltd (ASX:PXA), which fell 4.68% or 0.37 points to trade at 7.53 at the close. Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX:LTR) declined 4.14% or 0.06 points to end at 1.27 and Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX:MIN) was down 3.73% or 2.12 points to 54.66.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 583 to 485 and 389 ended unchanged.

Shares in PEXA Group Ltd (ASX:PXA) fell to all time lows; down 4.68% or 0.37 to 7.53.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 1.76% to 11.38.

Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.25% or 9.95 to $4,008.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 2.46% or 2.01 to hit $83.79 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 2.95% or 2.60 to trade at $90.70 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.06% to 0.70, while AUD/JPY rose 0.04% to 113.45.