Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 1.42%

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At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.42%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Perenti Global Ltd (ASX:PRN), which rose 3.50% or 0.03 points to trade at 0.74 at the close. Meanwhile, Skycity Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX:SKC) added 2.83% or 0.07 points to end at 2.54 and Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX:MFG) was up 2.15% or 0.27 points to 12.82 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Appen Ltd (ASX:APX), which fell 7.09% or 0.42 points to trade at 5.50 at the close. Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:CUV) declined 6.81% or 1.05 points to end at 14.37 and Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX:LYC) was down 6.19% or 0.60 points to 9.09.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Sydney Stock Exchange by 1057 to 386 and 374 ended unchanged.

Shares in Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) fell to 3-years lows; falling 7.09% or 0.42 to 5.50. Shares in Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:CUV) fell to 52-week lows; losing 6.81% or 1.05 to 14.37.

The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 9.26% to 17.04.

Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.26% or 4.75 to $1,851.75 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July fell 0.61% or 0.75 to hit $121.36 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract fell 0.49% or 0.61 to trade at $122.97 a barrel.

AUD/USD was unchanged 0.35% to 0.72, while AUD/JPY fell 0.91% to 95.68.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.02% at 102.56.