Investing.com – Canada equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Consumer Discretionary, Clean Technology and Materials sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.26%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were First Quantum Minerals Ltd . (TSX:FM), which rose 11.03% or 1.32 points to trade at 13.29 at the close. Suncor Energy Inc (TSX:SU) added 5.93% or 2.54 points to end at 45.34 and Peyto Exploration&Development Corp (TSX:PEY) was up 4.90% or 0.59 points to 12.63 in late trade.
Biggest losers included First Majestic Silver Corp. (TSX:FR), which lost 7.02% or 0.56 points to trade at 7.42 in late trade. Magna International Inc (TSX:MG) declined 5.62% or 4.43 points to end at 74.46 and Osisko Mining Corp (TSX:OSK) shed 5.43% or 0.15 points to 2.61.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 517 to 465 and 84 ended unchanged on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The S&P/TSX 60 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/TSX Composite options, was up 2.10% to 12.17 a new 1-month high.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was down 1.15% or 23.75 to $2,049.65 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 3.58% or 2.52 to hit $72.90 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 3.28% or 2.49 to trade at $78.38 a barrel.
CAD/USD was unchanged 0.25% to 0.75, while CAD/EUR unchanged 0.07% to 0.69.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.26% at 102.16.