Toronto stocks fell Wednesday, pulled lower by an energy sector weighed down by falling oil prices.

The S&P/TSX composite index finished down 80.08, or 0.77%, to 10,283.66.

Volume on the senior exchange was 229 million shares.

Half of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were down, with the energy sector shedding 2.70%.

Crude oil futures fell $1.78 to US$60.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on news of rising inventories.

PetroCanada lost 79¢, or 1.91%, to $40.60.

EnCana Corp. reported third-quarter profit of $266 million from a year-ago $604 million. Its shares fell $5.00, or 8.20%, to $56.00.

The information technology sector gained 0.26%

Research in Motion lost an emergency U.S. Supreme Court appeal that sought to put a patent suit against the company by U.S.-based NTP Inc. on hold. Trading was halted prior to the announcement with share price falling to $51 from yesterday’s close of $57.40. After the announcement, shares rallied to finish up 92¢, or 1.60%, to $58.32 as investors viewed the decision as an insignificant setback.

Nortel Networks lost 7¢, or 1.75%, to $3.92.

Gold for December delivery fell to close down $1.70 at US$473 an ounce. The gold group, a sub-sector of materials, fell 3.15%. Barrick Gold lost 86¢, or 3.18%, to $26.20.

The Canadian dollar was ahead 0.36 of a cent to US85.41¢.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture exchange finished down 13.30, or 0.66%, to 1,991.83.

In New York, markets lost ground on investors’ inflation concerns and on disappointing corporate earnings news.

The Dow Jones industrials average lost 32.89 points to 10,344.98, after an up-and-down session. The S&P 500 fell 5.16 points to 1,191.38 and the Nasdaq Composite retreated 9.40 points to 2,100.05.