Australia Stocks End Lower; S&P/ASX 200 Dips 0.20%

Australia stocks ended lower on Friday’s stock market. Leading the shares lower were losses in the A-REITs, Utilities and Energy sectors.

The S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.20% at the close in Sydney.

Outperformers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Graincorp Ltd. They rose 9.11% or 0.36 points to trade at 4.31 at the close. 

Moreover, Polynovo Ltd added 8.57% or 0.240 points to end at 3.040. Northern Star Resources Ltd was up 7.16% or 1.010 points to 15.110 in late trade.

On the other hand, the worst performers of the session were Unibail Rodamco Westfield. It plunged 6.15% or 0.24 points to trade at 3.66 at the close. 

Omni Bridgeway Ltd fell 3.94% or 0.15 points to end at 3.66. Challenger Ltd dropped 3.58% or 0.190 points to 5.120.

On the Sydney Stock Exchange, rising stocks outnumbered declining ones by 675 to 585 and 333 ended unchanged. 

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX was down 0.11% to 19.897. It is what assesses the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options.

Meanwhile, gold futures for December delivery gained 0.18% or 3.40 to $1876.70 a troy ounce. In commodities, crude oil for delivery in December lost 1.63% or 0.67 to hit $40.45 a barrel. The January Brent oil contract declined 1.19% or 0.52 to trade at $43.01 a barrel.

In forex, AUD/USD was up 0.00% to 0.7231, while AUD/JPY slipped 0.11% to 75.94.

The US Dollar Index Futures inched down 0.03% at 92.927.

Japan Stocks Lower at Close of Trade

Meanwhile, Japan stocks ended lower on Friday’s stock market. Leading the shares lower were Paper & Pulp, Railway & Bus, and Real Estate sectors.

The Nikkei 225 lost 0.53% at the close in Tokyo. 

The outperformers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. They were up 8.75% or 35.8 points to trade at 444.8 at the close. Furthermore, Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. added 3.49% or 2810.0 points to end at 83430.0. In late trade, Seiko Epson Cor was up 2.71% or 36.0 points to 1362.0.

Trend Micro Inc.were the worst performers of the session. They fell 7.06% or 440.0 points to trade at 5790.0 at the close. 

Haseko Corp sank 6.96% or 92.0 points to end at 1230.0. Tokyo Dome Corp. tumbled 6.55% or 63.0 points to 899.0.