Toronto stocks endured another triple-digit loss on Thursday, felled again by a drop in the price of oil.

The S&P/TSX composite index finished down 185.82, or 1.73%, to 10,562.23. Over the past three sessions, the market has fallen 518.96 points or 4.68%.

Volume on the senior exchange was 313 million shares.

All 10 TSX sub-indexes lost on the day, with the energy sector shedding 5.05%.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery fell $1.43 to settle at US$61.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after trading to a low of US$60.70 earlier in the session. The close, spurred by a perceived decline in demand, is the lowest for the benchmark since late July.

EnCana Corp. fell $5.01, or 7.93%, to close $58.20, while Suncor Energy Inc. lost $2.28, or 4.37%, to $49.89.

The gold sector, a sub-index of materials, gained 1.65%, the only bright news on the day.

Gold for December delivery climbed $5.70, or 1.2%, to finish the session at $475 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Bema Gold Corp. increased 11¢, or 3.74%, to $3.05.

The information technology sector dipped 0.11%.

Nortel Networks lost 11¢, or 2.82%, to $3.79.

ATI Technologies Inc. reported a US$104 million loss after writing off US$67 million in inventory. Excluding one-time charges, the tech company’s losses were less than analysts’ expectations. ATI gained 94¢, or 7.09%, to $14.20.

In economic news, Statistics Canada reported municipalities issued a record $5.4 billion worth of building permits in August, a rise of 10.2% from July.

The Canadian dollar edged up 0.01 of cent to US84.60¢.

The junior S&P/TSX venture exchange finished down 43.21, or 2.03%, to 2,080.88.

In New York, lower energy prices were offset by concerns that inflationary pressures in the economy would cause the U.S. Federal Reserve to continue raising rates.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 30.26 points, or 0.29%, to end at 10,287.10. The S&P500 index slipped 4.90 points, or 0.41%, to finish at 1,191.49. The Nasdaq composite index dropped 18.94 points, or 0.90 percent, to close at 2,084.08.