OTTAWA: Canada stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Financials, Energy and Consumer Staples sectors led shares higher. At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite gained 0.96%. The best performers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were Ensign Energy Services Inc (TO:ESI), which rose 4.79% or 0.36 points to trade at 7.88 at the close. Meanwhile, NuVista Energy Ltd . (TO:NVA) added 4.59% or 0.300 points to end at 6.840 and Kelt Exploration Ltd. (TO:KEL) was up 4.12% or 0.300 points to 7.580 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were Asanko Gold Inc (TO:AKG), which fell 4.78% or 0.170 points to trade at 3.390 at the close. Novagold Resources Inc . (TO:NG) declined 4.46% or 0.28 points to end at 6.00 and Endeavour Mining Corp (TO:EDV) was down 3.95% or 1.040 points to 25.270.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Toronto Stock Exchange by 569 to 546 and 130 ended unchanged. Shares in Kelt Exploration Ltd. (TO:KEL) rose to 52-week highs; up 4.12% or 0.300 to 7.580. The S&P/TSX 60 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/TSX Composite options, was down 1.71% to 13.22. Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.19% or 2.50 to $1286.00 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 0.94% or 0.50 to hit $52.68 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 0.84% or 0.47 to trade at $55.42 a barrel. CAD/USD was up 0.01% to 0.7505, while CAD/EUR fell 0.20% to 0.7056. The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.28% at 100.21.
