Investing.com – Canada stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Energy, Utilities and Consumer Staples sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite added 1.63%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were Baytex Energy Corp (TO:BTE), which rose 23.71% or 0.46 points to trade at 2.40 at the close. Meanwhile, Paramount Resources Ltd . (TO:POU) added 15.16% or 0.52 points to end at 3.95 and Penn West Petroleum Ltd. (TO:PWT) was up 14.47% or 0.11 points to 0.87 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Bombardier Inc (TO:BBDb), which fell 9.17% or 0.11 points to trade at 1.09 at the close. B2Gold Corp (TO:BTO) declined 7.69% or 0.080 points to end at 0.960 and Pengrowth Energy Corporation (TO:PGF) was down 7.41% or 0.06 points to 0.75.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Toronto Stock Exchange by 798 to 511 and 171 ended unchanged.
Shares in Bombardier Inc (TO:BBDb) fell to 5-year lows; down 9.17% or 0.11 to 1.09. Shares in B2Gold Corp (TO:BTO) fell to 5-year lows; falling 7.69% or 0.080 to 0.960.
The S&P/TSX 60 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/TSX Composite options, was down 1.75% to 26.39.
Gold for February delivery was down 0.44% or 4.90 to $1101.30 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 4.85% or 1.38 to hit $29.73 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 5.92% or 1.65 to trade at $29.53 a barrel.
CAD/USD was up 1.58% to 0.7004, while CAD/EUR rose 1.72% to 0.6439.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.02% at 99.15.