Toronto stocks finished the trading day in negative territory on Wednesday, driven by weakness in the Industrials, Materials and Energy sectors. At the close, the S&P/TSX Composite had declined 0.75%.
Market breadth and movers
Decliners outpaced advancers on the Toronto Stock Exchange by 630 to 333, with 76 issues unchanged. Among individual stocks, Gildan Activewear Inc. (TSX:GIL) was the session's strongest performer, jumping 6.52% - a gain of 4.59 points - to finish at 74.98. MDA Ltd (TSX:MDA) gained 4.51%, adding 2.37 points to close at 54.94. Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSX:GWO) rose 3.23%, up 2.78 points to 88.72; the stock also reached an all-time high during the session.
On the downside, AbraSilver Resource Corp (TSX:ABRA) led losses, falling 7.88% or 1.26 points to end at 14.74. Lundin Mining Corporation (TSX:LUN) declined 6.11%, down 2.52 points to 38.73. Silvercorp Metals Inc (TSX:SVM) slipped 5.15%, retreating 0.91 points to 16.77.
Volatility and commodities
The S&P/TSX 60 VIX, which measures option-implied volatility on the S&P/TSX Composite, rose 5.38% to 15.28 by the close.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery fell 1.74%, a decline of 75.75, to settle at $4,278.65 a troy ounce. Crude oil for July delivery eased 0.18%, down 0.14 to $75.91 a barrel, while the August Brent contract slipped 0.16%, a fall of 0.13, to trade at $78.83 a barrel.
Currencies and indexes
CAD/USD was down 0.71% to 0.71, while CAD/EUR unchanged 0.23% to 0.62. The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.90% at 100.18.
What this means
Wednesday's session saw sector-led selling pressure that outweighed gains from select large-cap stocks. Even with notable winners posting double-digit percentage moves relative to peers, the overall market closed lower as more names declined. Volatility edged higher and commodity prices moved lower for gold and modestly lower for crude benchmarks.
Investors monitoring market breadth, implied volatility and commodity trends may view the session as one in which sector leadership and individual stock moves diverged from the broader market direction.