Toronto stocks closed down Thursday, as a drop in oil and gold prices led to declines in the resource sectors, offsetting a solid day in financials.

The S&P/TSX composite index lost 33.20, or 0.28%, to 11,936.66.

Half of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were down, with the energy sector giving up 1.11%.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell 35¢ to close at US$75.46 a barrel.

EnCana Corp. lost $1.04, or 1.69%, to $60.36.

The materials sector lost 0.85%, while the gold index gave up 1.86%.

The front-month contract for gold closed down $7.60 at US$650.50 an ounce.

Bema Gold Corp. lost 20¢, or 3.06%, to $6.33.

Financial stocks gained 0.39%.

National Bank of Canada moved up 18¢, or 0.31%, to $58.76.

The Canadian dollar gained 0.11 of a cent at US88.84¢.

The S&P/TSX Venture Exchange index lost 6.93, or 0.26%, to 2,643.51.

In New York, investors set aside concerns over the course of inflation and the economy, and reacted positively to lower oil prices and recent strong corporate earnings news.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 42.66 at 11,242.59. The S&P 500 Index gained 1.72 to 1,280.27 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 13.53 to nearly 2,092.34.