Canada stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/TSX Composite down 0.14%

Investing.com – Canada stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Real Estate, REITs and Utilities sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite lost 0.14%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were Parex Resources Inc (TSX:PXT), which rose 6.03% or 0.73 points to trade at 12.83 at the close. Meanwhile, Secure Energy Services Inc . (TSX:SES) added 5.84% or 0.71 points to end at 12.86 and MDA Ltd (TSX:MDA) was up 5.54% or 0.98 points to 18.68 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were NovaGold Resources Inc (TSX:NG), which fell 12.74% or 0.72 points to trade at 4.93 at the close. Equinox Gold Corp (TSX:EQX) declined 4.93% or 0.41 points to end at 7.91 and NFI Group Inc (TSX:NFI) was down 4.23% or 0.77 points to 17.44.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Toronto Stock Exchange by 463 to 438 and 108 ended unchanged.

Shares in Secure Energy Services Inc. (TSX:SES) rose to 5-year highs; rising 5.84% or 0.71 to 12.86. Shares in MDA Ltd (TSX:MDA) rose to all time highs; rising 5.54% or 0.98 to 18.68.

The S&P/TSX 60 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/TSX Composite options, was up 5.41% to 11.70.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.27% or 7.15 to $2,676.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 5.39% or 3.78 to hit $73.88 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 5.21% or 3.85 to trade at $77.75 a barrel.

CAD/USD was unchanged 0.38% to 0.74, while CAD/EUR unchanged 0.24% to 0.67.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.30% at 101.72.