Investing.com – Canada stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Clean Technology, Telecommunications and Consumer Staples sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.26% to hit a new 1-month high.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were Bellatrix Exploration Ltd (TO:BXE), which rose 17.92% or 0.50 points to trade at 3.29 at the close. Meanwhile, FirstService Corporation (TO:FSV) added 7.07% or 4.69 points to end at 71.00 and Autocanada Inc (TO:ACQ) was up 5.88% or 2.53 points to 45.55 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Centerra Gold Inc. (TO:CG), which fell 10.25% or 0.73 points to trade at 6.39 at the close. Air Canada (TO:AC) declined 9.74% or 1.290 points to end at 11.960 and Semafo Inc. (TO:SMF) was down 9.51% or 0.39 points to 3.71.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Toronto Stock Exchange by 796 to 655 and 178 ended unchanged.
Shares in FirstService Corporation (TO:FSV) rose to all time highs; up 7.07% or 4.69 to 71.00.
The S&P/TSX 60 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of options, was down 2.49% to 18.04.
Gold for April delivery was down 1.00% or 12.30 to $1219.90 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude Oil for delivery in March fell 1.28% or 0.64 to hit $49.38 a barrel, while the April Brent Oil contract fell 1.97% or 1.13 to trade at $56.36 a barrel.
CAD/USD was down 0.37% to 0.7913, while CAD/EUR fell 0.20% to 0.7003.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.30% at 95.14.