Investing.com – Canada stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Consumer Staples, Consumer Discretionary and Energy sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.04%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were TransAlta Corp (TO:TA), which rose 7.75% or 0.45 points to trade at 6.26 at the close. Meanwhile, First Quantum Minerals Ltd . (TO:FM) added 4.25% or 0.68 points to end at 16.67 and Asanko Gold Inc (TO:AKG) was up 3.33% or 0.150 points to 4.650 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Lucara Diamond Corp (TO:LUC), which fell 2.31% or 0.080 points to trade at 3.380 at the close. Silver Wheaton Corp. (TO:SLW) declined 1.78% or 0.44 points to end at 24.27 and Novagold Resources Inc . (TO:NG) was down 1.70% or 0.10 points to 5.78.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Toronto Stock Exchange by 639 to 504 and 125 ended unchanged.
Shares in First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (TO:FM) rose to 52-week highs; rising 4.25% or 0.68 to 16.67.
The S&P/TSX 60 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/TSX Composite options, was down 4.80% to 13.69.
Gold for December delivery was down 0.36% or 4.30 to $1183.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.08% or 0.04 to hit $47.98 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 0.14% or 0.07 to trade at $48.88 a barrel.
CAD/USD was down 0.01% to 0.7413, while CAD/EUR fell 0.04% to 0.7022.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.04% at 101.77.