Investing.com – Canada stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Mining, Materials and Utilities sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite declined 0.29% to hit a new 6-months low.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inc (TO:VRX), which rose 9.21% or 28.77 points to trade at 341.02 at the close. Meanwhile, Mullen Group Ltd . (TO:MTL) added 5.16% or 0.95 points to end at 19.35 and Rogers Communications Inc (TO:RCIb) was up 3.95% or 1.73 points to 45.56 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Superior Plus Corp (TO:SPB), which fell 11.85% or 1.54 points to trade at 11.46 at the close. Fortuna Silver Mines Inc (TO:FVI) declined 8.68% or 0.31 points to end at 3.26 and Alamos Gold Inc (TO:AGI) was down 8.49% or 0.37 points to 3.99.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Toronto Stock Exchange by 917 to 477 and 194 ended unchanged.
Shares in Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inc (TO:VRX) rose to all time highs; gaining 9.21% or 28.77 to 341.02. Shares in Fortuna Silver Mines Inc (TO:FVI) fell to 52-week lows; falling 8.68% or 0.31 to 3.26. Shares in Alamos Gold Inc (TO:AGI) fell to 5-year lows; falling 8.49% or 0.37 to 3.99.
The S&P/TSX 60 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/TSX Composite options, was down 0.64% to 12.34.
Gold for August delivery was down 0.27% or 2.90 to $1088.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September fell 0.81% or 0.40 to hit $48.79 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 1.21% or 0.68 to trade at $55.45 a barrel.
CAD/USD was down 0.04% to 0.7671, while CAD/EUR fell 0.63% to 0.6978.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.36% at 97.27.