Canadian equities finished the trading day in positive territory on Monday, with gains concentrated in IT, Materials and Clean Technology stocks that helped lift the benchmark higher.
By the close in Toronto the S&P/TSX Composite had climbed 1.81%.
Top performers
The session's largest percentage gainer on the S&P/TSX Composite was Transcontinental Inc (TSX:TCLa), which rose 43.88% or 1.47 points to finish at 4.82. AbraSilver Resource Corp (TSX:ABRA) also advanced, adding 10.15% or 1.01 points to end at 10.96, and Americas Silver Corp (TSX:USA) was up 9.49% or 0.70 points to 8.08 in late trade.
Largest decliners
On the downside, Vermilion Energy Inc. (TSX:VET) dropped 6.24% or 1.19 points to close at 17.88. International Petroleum Corp (TSX:IPCO) fell 4.56% or 1.67 points to finish at 34.95, and Methanex Corporation (TSX:MX) lost 3.51% or 2.69 points to end the day at 74.00.
Market breadth in Toronto favored advancing issues, with 668 stocks rising against 285 that declined, and 78 issues finishing unchanged.
Notably, the report indicates that shares of Transcontinental Inc (TSX:TCLa) rose to 5-year lows; up 43.88% or 1.47 to 4.82.
Volatility and commodities
Implied volatility on major Canadian large-cap options eased, with the S&P/TSX 60 VIX down 1.84% to 19.77.
In commodities trading, June gold futures were lower, down 3.73% or 171.84 to $4,437.76 a troy ounce for the June contract. Crude oil prices moved notably lower: the May West Texas Intermediate contract fell 9.12% or 8.96 to $89.27 a barrel, while the June Brent contract declined 9.15% or 9.74 to trade at $96.67 a barrel.
Currency and U.S. dollar futures
On the currency front, CAD/USD was essentially unchanged, moving 0.05% to 0.73, and CAD/EUR was unchanged, moving 0.40% to 0.63. The US Dollar Index Futures fell 0.53% to 98.93.
The closing action showed a market led by sector-specific strength in technology-linked and materials-oriented names, while commodity markets and certain energy and industrial equities experienced declines. Implied volatility in the S&P/TSX 60 ticked lower as the TSX Composite posted its gain.