Canadian stocks retreated on Thursday as commodity-linked shares fell, while a batch of downbeat data raised concerns about the domestic economic recovery ahead of next week's federal election.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index fell 0.3% to 20,626.35 in morning trade.

Leading declines were mining stocks, which fell 3% to snap a three-day rally due to weakness in gold prices.

The energy index fell 0.6% as prices of oil, Canada's top export, fell from a multi-week high as the threat to US Gulf production from Hurricane Nicholas receded.

The TSX index has lost steam in September after posting seven consecutive months of gains as seasonal weakness and worries around a slowdown in the post-pandemic recovery knocked it off its record highs.

"Certainly, we had a hot start to the year and now we are in a seasonally volatile time," said Gregory Taylor, portfolio manager at Purpose Investments.

Toronto shares rise as higher oil prices lift energy stocks

"There's a little bit of caution in the market, but it should still be positive into the year end, maybe once we get past the Fed meeting and election."

Adding to Thursday's weakness, data showed Canadian wholesale trade fell by 2.1% in July from June on lower sales in the building materials and supplies subsector.

Another set showed housing starts fell 3.9% in August compared with the previous month as both multiple urban starts and single urban starts declined.

Highlights

Nuvei Corp rose 2.7%, the most on the TSX, after brokerage RBC raised the price target for the payment processing firm's stock.

Miners Endeavour Silver Corp and Fortuna Silver Mines Inc were the biggest percentage losers on the TSX.

On the TSX, 64 issues were higher, while 150 issues declined for a 2.34-to-1 ratio to the downside, with 6.76 million shares traded.