OTTAWA: Canada stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Consumer Staples, Energy and Financials sectors led shares lower. At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.53%. The best performers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were Home Capital Group Inc . (TO:HCG), which rose 23.40% or 2.05 points to trade at 10.81 at the close. Meanwhile, NuVista Energy Ltd . (TO:NVA) added 13.28% or 0.870 points to end at 7.420 and Air Canada (TO:AC) was up 10.54% or 1.570 points to 16.460 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were Aimia Inc (TO:AIM), which fell 62.71% or 5.60 points to trade at 3.33 at the close. Ensign Energy Services Inc (TO:ESI) declined 6.08% or 0.47 points to end at 7.26 and Canadian Tire Corp Ltd (TO:CTCa) was down 5.94% or 9.87 points to 156.39. Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Toronto Stock Exchange by 634 to 543 and 110 ended unchanged.
Shares in Aimia Inc (TO:AIM) fell to all time lows; losing 62.71% or 5.60 to 3.33. Shares in Air Canada (TO:AC) rose to 5-year highs; gaining 10.54% or 1.570 to 16.460. The S&P/TSX 60 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/TSX Composite options, was up 0.40% to 12.42. Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.47% or 5.67 to $1224.57 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 1.01% or 0.48 to hit $47.81 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 1.06% or 0.53 to trade at $50.75 a barrel. CAD/USD was down 0.22% to 0.7301, while CAD/EUR fell 0.27% to 0.6720. The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.01% at 99.51.
