Toronto's main stock index fell on Thursday, hurt by weakening oil prices and by gold producers that failed to find support even though gold prices turned higher. Miners Goldcorp and Barrick Gold were among some of the index's top overall decliners, unable to benefit from a move higher in the gold price after the U.S. futures regulator said it would review possible position limits on gold and silver.
Goldcorp sagged 2.44 percent to C$41.51, while Barrick fell 1.36 percent C$41.38. Oil prices fell for a fourth straight session as weak US economic signals and high inventories spurred fears of a sluggish rebound in demand in the world's largest energy consumer. Also hurting prices was a proposal by the US regulator to limit how many energy contracts hedge funds, investment banks and other speculators can control.
EnCana dropped 1.43 percent to C$35.80, while Nexen lost 3.1 percent to C$23.88. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index closed down 49.18 points, or 0.41 percent, at 11,804.38. Half of the index's 10 main groups were in the red, including the commodity-linked sectors.
The energy group and the mining-heavy materials group are heavyweight sectors of the S&P/TSX composite, making up nearly half of its weighting, and they regularly set the index's direction. The S&P/TSX composite's infotech group gained 1.5 percent, leading sectors that advanced on Thursday. Shares of Research In Motion rose 1.1 percent to C$68.12 to top overall gainers for a second straight session.