Canadian equity markets finished the session higher on Monday, with the S&P/TSX Composite advancing 1.04% to record a new all-time high at the close in Toronto. Gains were driven by strength in the Materials, Information Technology and Consumer Discretionary sectors.
Market breadth favored the advance: 703 stocks rose on the Toronto Stock Exchange, 254 declined and 72 finished unchanged. The S&P/TSX 60 VIX, which tracks implied volatility for options on the S&P/TSX Composite, declined 3.17% to 14.06, marking a new three-month low.
Top performers
- HudBay Minerals Inc (TSX:HBM) led gains on the session, climbing 8.94% or 3.01 points to close at 36.69.
- First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (TSX:FM) rose 8.36% or 3.07 points to finish at 39.80.
- Capstone Mining Corp (TSX:CS) added 7.44% or 0.98 points to end the day at 14.15.
Heaviest decliners
- Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd (TSX:TVE) was the weakest name noted, down 5.24% or 0.67 points to 12.11 at the close.
- Baytex Energy Corp (TSX:BTE) declined 5.20% or 0.37 points to 6.75.
- Athabasca Oil Corp (TSX:ATH) fell 5.18% or 0.62 points to close at 11.34.
Commodities and currencies
Gold Futures for August delivery finished the session higher, up 1.07% or 48.70 to $4,605.10 a troy ounce. In energy markets, crude oil for July delivery fell 6.51% or 6.29 to $90.31 a barrel, while the August Brent contract declined 6.55% or 6.56 to trade at $93.65 a barrel.
On the currency front, CAD/USD was effectively unchanged, moving 0.14% to 0.72, while CAD/EUR was unchanged at 0.21% to 0.62. The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.27% at 98.92.
Takeaway
Monday's session closed with broad participation to the upside in Canada, led by materials-related and mining stocks among the biggest single-stock contributors. At the same time, energy names saw notable weakness, in line with a sharp pullback in oil futures. Implied volatility as measured by the S&P/TSX 60 VIX moved lower to its recent three-month trough.