Stock markets closed mainly lower Thursday, as investor optimism over falling oil prices was offset by discouraging U.S. retail results. Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index fell 25.98 points, or 0.29%, at 9,038.49.

Just three of the 10 main groups fell, but the drops in the energy and materials groups were significant enough to push down the overall index.

Energy stocks fell as the price of light, sweet crude backed off $2.24 to US$43.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The TSX energy sector dropped 3% cent as EnCana lost $1.94 to $64.74 and Petro-Canada gave up $2.36 to $64.58.

The materials sector lost 2.04%, pushed down by the gold-mining subindex, which fell 3.66%. The price of the precious metal fell on the New York Mercantile Exchange as the U.S. dollar gained strength. Gold and the greenback generally trade in an inverse relationship.

Placer Dome fell or 3.4% to $24.40. Goldcorp dropped 4.05% $17.05.

The biggest decliner on the TSX was Inex Pharmaceuticals. Its shares were practically wiped out, plunging $4.69, or 86%, to 76¢ on a heavy volume of 28 million shares after a U.S. advisory panel rejected fast-track approval for its cancer drug.

The heavily weighted financial group rose 0.88%, as CIBC, National Bank and Canadian Western Bank reported fourth-quarter earnings.

National Bank shares rose 2.18% to $48.80 after the bank reported a 22% rise in fourth-quarter profit.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite lost 37.08 points, or 2% to 1,718.77.

The drop in oil prices also contributed to a drop of 0.75 of a cent in the Canadian dollar to US83.73¢.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average fell back 5.10 points to 10,585.12. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index climbed 5.34 points to 2,143.57 on hopes for a positive outlook from Intel.

The S&P 500 index edged 1.04 points lower to 1,190.33.

U.S. retailers delivered disappointing figures for the Thanksgiving weekend, traditionally the kickoff for the holiday shopping season.

In other data, orders to American factories rebounded in October, rising by a solid 0.5% after being flat in September

Investors have high hopes for Friday’s U.S. employment report, looking for the creation of 330,000 jobs in November. Canada’s employment report also comes out Friday, with economists expecting to see 30,000 more jobs.