Canada stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/TSX Composite down 0.96%

Investing.com – Canada stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Materials, Clean Technology and Energy sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite lost 0.96%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were Empire Company Ltd (TSX:EMPa), which rose 5.23% or 2.25 points to trade at 45.28 at the close. Meanwhile, Bombardier Inc (TSX:BBDb) added 3.24% or 3.29 points to end at 104.70 and Transcontinental Inc (TSX:TCLa) was up 2.68% or 0.47 points to 18.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Equinox Gold Corp (TSX:EQX), which fell 9.26% or 0.84 points to trade at 8.23 at the close. New Gold Inc (TSX:NGD) declined 7.08% or 0.31 points to end at 4.07 and NovaGold Resources Inc (TSX:NG) was down 6.80% or 0.37 points to 5.07.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Toronto Stock Exchange by 526 to 403 and 104 ended unchanged.

Shares in Empire Company Ltd (TSX:EMPa) rose to 52-week highs; rising 5.23% or 2.25 to 45.28.

The S&P/TSX 60 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/TSX Composite options, was down 2.13% to 9.20.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 1.82% or 50.11 to $2,706.59 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 0.34% or 0.24 to hit $70.05 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 0.14% or 0.10 to trade at $73.42 a barrel.

CAD/USD was unchanged 0.37% to 0.70, while CAD/EUR unchanged 0.10% to 0.67.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.26% at 106.67.