Canada shares higher at close of trade; S&P/TSX Composite up 0.02%

Investing.com – Canada equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Materials , Consumer Staples and Telecoms sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite added 0.02%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were Ero Copper Corp (TSX: ERO ), which rose 7.02% or 1.28 points to trade at 19.52 at the close. Capstone Mining Corp (TSX: CS ) added 5.21% or 0.35 points to end at 7.17 and First Quantum Minerals Ltd . (TSX: FM ) was up 4.79% or 1.76 points to 38.48 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Secure Energy Services Inc . (TSX: SES ), which lost 9.86% or 0.63 points to trade at 5.76 in late trade. Docebo Inc (TSX: DCBO ) declined 10.06% or 6.32 points to end at 56.53 and Hut 8 Mining Corp (TSX: HUT ) shed 7.26% or 0.57 points to 7.28.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 617 to 415 and 95 ended unchanged on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The S&P/TSX 60 VIX , which measures the implied volatility of S&P/TSX Composite options, was down 1.91% to 21.62.

In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was up 1.05% or 20.20 to $1,942.50 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 1.65% or 1.83 to hit $108.77 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 1.54% or 1.74 to trade at $111.19 a barrel.

CAD/USD was unchanged 0.40% to 0.79, while CAD/EUR unchanged 0.16% to 0.71.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.38% at 97.78.