OTTAWA: Canada stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Financials, Industrials and IT sectors led shares higher. At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite gained 0.63% to hit a new 1-month high.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were IGM Financial Inc . (TO:IGM), which rose 3.43% or 1.36 points to trade at 41.03 at the close. Meanwhile, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc . (TO:RBA) added 3.06% or 1.270 points to end at 42.770 and Manulife Financial Corporation (TO:MFC) was up 3.03% or 0.70 points to 23.84 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were Semafo Inc . (TO:SMF), which fell 15.74% or 0.62 points to trade at 3.32 at the close. Home Capital Group Inc . (TO:HCG) declined 9.09% or 1.75 points to end at 17.50 and Sandstorm Gold Ltd . (TO:SSL) was down 5.28% or 0.310 points to 5.560. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Toronto Stock Exchange by 678 to 490 and 122 ended unchanged. Shares in Semafo Inc. (TO:SMF) fell to 52-week lows; losing 15.74% or 0.62 to 3.32.
The S&P/TSX 60 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/TSX Composite options, was down 3.40% to 11.64. Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.93% or 12.03 to $1277.07 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June fell 0.85% or 0.42 to hit $49.20 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract fell 0.72% or 0.38 to trade at $52.06 a barrel. CAD/USD was down 0.01% to 0.7404, while CAD/EUR fell 1.36% to 0.6814. The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.75% at 98.91.