Australia stocks closed lower on Monday, with the S&P/ASX 200 index declining 0.54%, reaching a new three-month low. The Consumer Staples, Industrials, and Healthcare sectors led the losses.
Among the top performers were Westgold Resources Ltd, which rose 5.30%, Monadelphous Group Ltd, which added 3.99%, and Unibail Rodamco Westfield, up 3.60% in late trading.
On the other hand, St Barbara Ltd fell 5.36%, Nuix Ltd declined 4.71%, and Pointsbet Holdings Ltd was down 3.80%.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange, with 728 declining, 546 advancing, and 430 remaining unchanged.
St Barbara Ltd shares reached a five-year low, falling 5.36% to 0.26.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, measuring implied volatility, reached a three-month high, rising 0.93% to 13.80.
In commodities trading, gold futures for August delivery fell 0.12% to $1,930.20 per troy ounce, while crude oil for August delivery dropped 0.83% to $73.25 a barrel. The September Brent oil contract fell 0.82% to $77.83 a barrel.
The AUD/USD exchange rate remained unchanged at 0.66, while AUD/JPY fell 0.46% to 94.66.
The US Dollar Index Futures rose 0.16% to 102.11.
