Toronto stocks fell Monday as weakness in the oil and gold sectors offset gains in telecom shares.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 81.07 points, or 0.6%, at 12,785.20 even though seven of the 10 TSX main groups advanced on the day.

The gold sector dropped 1.4% and the heavily weighted energy sector was down 2.4%.

The drop in energy stocks in Toronto came as oil prices retreated. Light sweet crude for January delivery was down $1.22 to US$62.21 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

EnCana Corp. closed down almost 4% at C$54.95.

The February bullion contract on the Nymex fell $1.20 to US$617.90 an ounce, and Barrick Gold Corp. closed down 19¢ at C$34.93.

The metals and mining group was down 1.6% as Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. fell 2.7% to $12.15.

Among the session gainers, the telecom sector rose almost 1%, boosted by BCE’s decision to sell satellite operator Telesat Canada to the Public Sector Pension Investment Board and U.S.-based Loral Space and Communications Inc. for $3.42 billion. Shares in BCE closed up 78¢, or 2.6%, at $30.69.

The information technology sector gained 0.4% after an Ontario Securities Commission panel extended the financial results filing deadline for BlackBerry maker Research In Motion to March 5. RIM stock rose 1.4%, or $2.17, to $157.17.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index rose 8.28 points to 2,821.05.

The Canadian dollar closed at US86.04¢, off 0.01 cent.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average slipped 4.25 points to 12,441.27. The Nasdaq fell 21.63 to 2,435.57 while the S&P 500 index was down 4.61 to 1,422.48.

The U.S. Commerce Department, meanwhile, reported that the current-account deficit increased 3.9% to a record US$225.6 billion in the July-September quarter.