Investing.com – Canada equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the IT, Consumer Staples and Healthcare sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite lost 0.36%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were Precision Drilling Corporation (TSX:PD), which rose 4.16% or 2.53 points to trade at 63.28 at the close. Birchcliff Energy Ltd . (TSX:BIR) added 3.97% or 0.31 points to end at 8.12 and Cogeco Communications Inc (TSX:CCA) was up 3.49% or 2.26 points to 66.98 in late trade.
Biggest losers included North West Company Inc (TSX:NWC), which lost 10.81% or 4.15 points to trade at 34.25 in late trade. Shopify Inc (TSX:SHOP) declined 6.65% or 5.68 points to end at 79.67 and Torex Gold Resources Inc (TSX:TXG) shed 6.49% or 1.44 points to 20.74.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 479 to 476 and 117 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 down 2.03% to 12.07 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was down 1.28% or 25.35 to $1,956.15 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 1.09% or 0.78 to hit $72.52 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 0.77% or 0.59 to trade at $76.88 a barrel.
CAD/USD was unchanged 0.23% to 0.75, while CAD/EUR unchanged 0.17% to 0.70.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.01% at 104.08.