OTTAWA: Canada stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Energy, Materials and Healthcare sectors led shares lower. At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite lost 1.36% to hit a new 3-months low. The best performers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were Home Capital Group Inc . (TO:HCG), which rose 7.35% or 0.83 points to trade at 12.13 at the close. Meanwhile, Restaurant Brands Intl (TO:QSR) added 3.16% or 2.40 points to end at 78.36 and Shaw Communications Inc (TO:SJRb) was up 2.52% or 0.74 points to 30.16 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were Aimia Inc (TO:AIM), which fell 19.05% or 0.36 points to trade at 1.53 at the close. MEG Energy Corp (TO:MEG) declined 8.51% or 0.40 points to end at 4.30 and Baytex Energy Corp (TO:BTE) was down 8.42% or 0.32 points to 3.48. Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Toronto Stock Exchange by 779 to 334 and 139 ended unchanged.
Shares in Aimia Inc (TO:AIM) fell to all time lows; falling 19.05% or 0.36 to 1.53. Shares in MEG Energy Corp (TO:MEG) fell to 52-week lows; losing 8.51% or 0.40 to 4.30. Shares in Shaw Communications Inc (TO:SJRb) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 2.52% or 0.74 to 30.16. The S&P/TSX 60 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/TSX Composite options, was up 3.61% to 15.20. Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.51% or 6.43 to $1262.17 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July fell 3.72% or 1.73 to hit $44.73 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract fell 3.49% or 1.70 to trade at $47.02 a barrel. CAD/USD was up 0.13% to 0.7562, while CAD/EUR rose 0.07% to 0.6741. The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.08% at 96.89.
