Canada shares higher at close of trade; S&P/TSX Composite up 0.41%

Investing.com – Canada equities were higher at the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Utilities, Consumer Staples and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite gained 0.41%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were TransAlta Corp (TSX:TA), which rose 7.13% or 1.02 points to trade at 15.33 at the close. Celestica Inc. (TSX:CLS) added 4.67% or 4.70 points to end at 105.28 and Capstone Mining Corp (TSX:CS) was up 4.61% or 0.45 points to 10.10 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Cargojet Inc (TSX:CJT), which lost 7.33% or 10.18 points to trade at 128.62 in late trade. Colliers International Group Inc Bats (TSX:CIGI) declined 3.84% or 8.21 points to end at 205.49 and Toromont Industries Ltd . (TSX:TIH) shed 3.77% or 4.62 points to 118.08.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 490 to 387 and 121 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 up 0.98% to 12.39 a new 1-month high.

In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.18% or 4.85 to $2,751.05 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 0.92% or 0.66 to hit $72.13 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 0.71% or 0.53 to trade at $75.61 a barrel.

CAD/USD was unchanged 0.47% to 0.72, while CAD/EUR unchanged 0.00% to 0.66.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.43% at 103.35.