Investing.com – Canada equities were lower at the close on Thursday, as losses in the Healthcare, Consumer Staples and Financials sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite declined 0.01%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were MEG Energy Corp (TO:MEG), which rose 6.83% or 0.41 points to trade at 6.41 at the close. Canadian Energy Services & Technology Corp (TO:CEU) added 6.13% or 0.280 points to end at 4.850 and Encana Corporation (TO:ECA) was up 5.89% or 0.72 points to 12.95 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Extendicare Inc (TO:EXE), which lost 3.60% or 0.32 points to trade at 8.58 in late trade. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (TO:VRX) declined 3.43% or 1.32 points to end at 37.19 and West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd . (TO:WFT) shed 3.19% or 1.38 points to 41.92.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 622 to 495 and 155 ended unchanged on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The S&P/TSX 60 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/TSX Composite options, was down 0.67% to 13.41.
In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was up 0.61% or 8.25 to $1357.05 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 3.21% or 1.50 to hit $48.29 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 2.03% or 1.01 to trade at $50.86 a barrel.
CAD/USD was up 0.57% to 0.7830, while CAD/EUR unchanged 0.00% to 0.6895.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.61% at 94.11.