Investing.com – Canada equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the IT, Utilities and Consumer Staples sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite gained 0.93% to hit a new 52-week high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were Linamar Corporation (TSX:LNR), which rose 11.44% or 7.27 points to trade at 70.82 at the close. Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners LP (TSX:BEP_u) added 6.37% or 1.97 points to end at 32.89 and Denison Mines Corp (TSX:DML) was up 6.05% or 0.15 points to 2.63 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Vermilion Energy Inc . (TSX:VET), which lost 5.01% or 0.80 points to trade at 15.17 in late trade. Lithium Americas Corp (TSX:LAAC) declined 4.46% or 0.32 points to end at 6.85 and First Quantum Minerals Ltd . (TSX:FM) shed 3.79% or 0.51 points to 12.95.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 636 to 315 and 116 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 2.01% to 12.21.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.39% or 8.50 to $2,166.70 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 0.10% or 0.08 to hit $79.05 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 0.04% or 0.03 to trade at $82.93 a barrel.
CAD/USD was unchanged 0.38% to 0.74, while CAD/EUR unchanged 0.04% to 0.68.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.52% at 102.79.