Toronto stocks finished lower Thursday, as strong showings in the materials and information technology sector couldn’t offset a drop in the energy index.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 24.43 points, or 0.21%, to 11,602.01.

Six of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were up, but the heavily weighted energy sector was down 1.55%.

The August contract fell 5¢ to close at US$74.14 a barrel.

EnCana Corp. lost 45¢, or 0.77%, to $57.88.

The materials index moved up 0.81%.

The front-month contract for gold closed $6.60 higher at US$636.30 an ounce.

Bema Gold Corp. moved up 22¢, or 3.85%, to $5.93.

The information technology sector gained 0.90%.

Open Text Corp. made a bid for Hummingbird Ltd. offering US$27.75 a share. Open Text shares fell 62¢, or 3.95%, to $15.07, while Hummingbird moved up $1.25, or 4.10%, to $31.74.

In economic news, Statistics Canada reported continuing strong building activity, with May construction permits up 6.9 per cent to $5.4 billion.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.07 of a cent to US89.92¢.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index inched forward 4.53, or 0.17%, to 2,664.22.

In New York, markets were up as investors took in economic news that indicated inflation might be in check and the Federal Reserve may be nearing the end of its cycle of rate hikes.

The Dow Jones Industrials closed up 73.48 points at 11,225.30 while the S&P 500 gained 3.17 points to 1,274.08. The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.75 points to 2,155.09.