Dec 18, 2023: The Australian stock market closed lower on Monday, witnessing losses in various sectors such as A-REITs, Utilities, and Consumer Staples.
At the close of trading in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 saw a decline of 0.22%.
The top performers on the S&P/ASX 200 included Adbri Ltd (ASX:ABC), which surged by 32.16% or 0.73 points, closing at 3.00. Following closely were Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX:LNK), rising by 27.65% or 0.47 points to reach 2.17, and Tabcorp Holdings Ltd (ASX:TAH), climbing 23.81% or 0.18 points to 0.91 at the end of the session.
On the flip side, the session’s worst performers were Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX:OBL), which dropped by 4.14% or 0.06 points, closing at 1.39, Perenti Global Ltd (ASX:PRN) with a decline of 4.13% or 0.04 points to 0.99, and Kogan.com Ltd (ASX:KGN), falling 4.06% or 0.22 points to 5.20.
In the market, declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange, with 674 stocks falling, 529 declining, and 354 remaining unchanged.
Adbri Ltd (ASX:ABC) reached its 52-week highs, registering a significant gain of 32.16% or 0.73, closing at 3.00.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up by 3.19% to 10.18.
In the commodities market, Gold Futures for February delivery saw a slight increase of 0.06% or 1.20, reaching $2,036.90 per troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for February delivery rose by 0.54% or 0.39, hitting $72.17 a barrel, and the February Brent oil contract increased by 0.51% or 0.39, trading at $76.94 a barrel.
As for currency pairs, AUD/USD remained unchanged at 0.67, while AUD/JPY saw a rise of 0.22%, reaching 95.42.