Investing.com – Canada stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Materials, IT and Consumer Discretionary sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite added 0.26%.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd . (TO:AEM), which rose 8.26% or 2.97 points to trade at 38.93 at the close. Meanwhile, Primero Mining Corp (TO:P) added 8.06% or 0.250 points to end at 3.350 and B2Gold Corp (TO:BTO) was up 7.74% or 0.120 points to 1.670 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Newalta Corporation (TO:NAL), which fell 11.86% or 0.46 points to trade at 3.42 at the close. Bankers Petroleum Ltd . (TO:BNK) declined 9.76% or 0.120 points to end at 1.110 and Kelt Exploration Ltd. (TO:KEL) was down 8.12% or 0.38 points to 4.30.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Toronto Stock Exchange by 703 to 688 and 192 ended unchanged.
Shares in Newalta Corporation (TO:NAL) fell to 5-year lows; losing 11.86% or 0.46 to 3.42. Shares in Bankers Petroleum Ltd. (TO:BNK) fell to 5-year lows; losing 9.76% or 0.120 to 1.110.
The S&P/TSX 60 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/TSX Composite options, was down 8.14% to 17.15.
Gold for February delivery was up 2.40% or 25.50 to $1086.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 2.37% or 0.97 to hit $40.10 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 1.45% or 0.64 to trade at $43.20 a barrel.
CAD/USD was down 0.13% to 0.7478, while CAD/EUR rose 0.50% to 0.6879.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.54% at 98.34.