Toronto stocks fell Thursday, as weakness in resources stocks weighed down the broader market.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 62.78, or 0.51%, to 12,132.30.

Half of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were down, with the materials index falling farthest at 1.49%. The December futures contract for gold fell $4.50 at US$628.50 an ounce.

Kinross Gold Corp. fell 52¢, or 3.36%, to $14.95.

The financials sector fell 0.33% despite strong quarterly earnings reported by Toronto-Dominion Bank, which posted a profit gain of 94% to $796 million in the third quarter. TD Bank shares moved up 28¢, or 0.44%, to $63.63.

The energy sector fell 0.49%. Light, sweet crude for October delivery closed up 60¢ at US$72.36 a barrel.

Units in Penn West Petroleum Ltd. fell 31¢, or 0.65%, to $47.18.

Consumer staples increased a strong 1.82% as the sector took in a major announcement.

Drugstore chain Jean Coutu Group Inc. said it is selling its U.S. drugstore business to U.S.-based Rite Aid Corp. for US$3.4 billion. Jean Coutu shares gained $1.81, or 16.53%, to $12.76. Rite Aid Corp. shares fell 6.8% to $4.36 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Canadian dollar closed up 0.17 of a cent to US90.03¢

The S&P/TSX Venture Exchange index moved ahead by 4.42 points, or 0.17%, to 2,646.21.

In New York, markets posted small gains as investors remained wary of a possibly slowing U.S. economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 6.56 points at 11,304.46. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 2.45 points to 2,137.11, and the S&P 500 Index added 3.07 points to 1,296.06.

In U.S. economic news, sales of new homes dropped in July by 4.3%.