Investing.com – Canada stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Utilities , Clean Technology and Consumer Staples sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite added 0.23%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were Richelieu Hardware Ltd. (TSX: RCH ), which rose 5.05% or 1.90 points to trade at 39.49 at the close. Meanwhile, SSR Mining Inc (TSX: SSRM ) added 4.63% or 0.49 points to end at 11.08 and Northland Power Inc . (TSX: NPI ) was up 4.41% or 0.80 points to 18.94 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd (TSX: TVE ), which fell 4.68% or 0.23 points to trade at 4.68 at the close. Torex Gold Resources Inc (TSX: TXG ) declined 3.85% or 1.11 points to end at 27.71 and First Quantum Minerals Ltd . (TSX: FM ) was down 3.80% or 0.74 points to 18.73.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Toronto Stock Exchange by 538 to 396 and 90 ended unchanged.
The S&P/TSX 60 VIX , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/TSX Composite options, was up 38.24% to 13.63 a new 3-months high.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 1.02% or 27.61 to $2,745.41 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March fell 1.16% or 0.91 to hit $77.80 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.91% or 0.75 to trade at $81.28 a barrel.
CAD/USD was unchanged 0.37% to 0.69, while CAD/EUR unchanged 0.47% to 0.67.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.10% at 108.81.