Canada stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/TSX Composite up 0.33%

Investing.com – Canada stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Consumer Staples, Clean Technology and Healthcare sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite gained 0.33% to hit a new all time high.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were Parkland Fuel Corporation (TSX:PKI), which rose 5.07% or 1.74 points to trade at 36.07 at the close. Meanwhile, Orla Mining Ltd (TSX:OLA) added 4.61% or 0.29 points to end at 6.58 and Alimentation Couche Tard Inc (TSX:ATD) was up 4.27% or 3.38 points to 82.47 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Celestica Inc. (TSX:CLS), which fell 4.33% or 5.28 points to trade at 116.70 at the close. Bombardier Inc (TSX:BBDb) declined 3.60% or 3.47 points to end at 93.02 and Interfor Corp (TSX:IFP) was down 2.91% or 0.61 points to 20.34.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Toronto Stock Exchange by 572 to 357 and 99 ended unchanged.

The S&P/TSX 60 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/TSX Composite options, was down 3.42% to 10.44.

Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.52% or 13.89 to $2,660.19 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January unchanged 0.00% or 0.00 to hit $68.77 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.04% or 0.03 to trade at $72.35 a barrel.

CAD/USD was unchanged 0.20% to 0.71, while CAD/EUR unchanged 0.53% to 0.67.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.87% at 106.04.