Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market closed with a small loss Thursday after a strengthening U.S. dollar hit commodity prices, pressuring mining and energy stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index was off 55.79 points at 12,445.93 as investors awaited the kickoff of earnings season in the United States after hours.

The gold sector saw a big loss as the December bullion contract tumbled $12.70 to close at US$1,335 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) fell $1.33, or 2.9%, to C$44.41.

The price of the yellow metal — along with prices for most other commodities — has been cruising higher for several weeks as a weakening U.S. dollar makes it cheaper to buy goods priced in the American currency.

“I think people are just taking some profits off the table and parking it,” said Kathryn Delgreco, investment adviser at TD Waterhouse.

“There are some signs that the market may be due for another correction,” Delgreco said. “Certainly the economic numbers that are coming out are still quite patchy.”

Investors were also awaiting the beginning of third-quarter earnings season, with Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) scheduled to become the first component of the Dow Jones to release results after the markets closed Thursday.

Third-quarter results will provide a glimpse into how companies were able to deal with slowing economic growth over the summer as well as insight into where corporate executives believe the economy is headed.

“We have been pre-warned by a lot of these companies not to expect the strong numbers we saw in Q1 and Q2 to continue, so there should be no surprises if we just have steady numbers. I think that should be viewed as a positive,” Delgreco said.

Energy stocks were 0.6% lower as the November crude contract slumped $1.56 to US$81.67 a barrel on the Nymex. Shares in Canadian Natural Resources (TSX:CNQ) lost 34 cents to C$37.58.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.76 of a cent to 98.18 cents US as the greenback regained some of the ground it lost in recent days.

The TSX base metals sector dropped 1.4% as the December copper contract on the Nymex declined 7.35 cents to US$3.68 a pound. Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) fell 47 cents to C$43.90, while Quadra FNX Mining (TSX:QUX) was down 24 cents at $14.91.

Financials backed off 0.3%, with CIBC (TSX:CM) down 23 cents at $76.23.

The TSX Venture Exchange lost 8.3 points to 1,765.76.

In economic news, the U.S. Labour Department said first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell by 11,000 last week to 445,000. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters were predicting a slight increase.

Claims have been falling steadily in recent weeks, but surveys show employers aren’t necessarily ramping up hiring. Payroll company ADP said Wednesday that private employers slashed jobs in September for the first time in eight months. More insight into American jobs will be available Friday when the U.S. government releases the unemployment rate for September.

Statistics Canada reported that contractors took out $5.7 billion in building permits in August. That was down 9.2% from July due to decreases in the non-residential sector, which outweighed increases in the residential sector.

On Wall Street, markets traded in a tight range despite a spate of relatively positive earnings results and economic data. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 19.07 points to 10,948.58. The Nasdaq composite index edged up 3.01 points to 2,383.67, while the S&P 500 index slipped 1.91 points to 1,158.06.

In corporate news, broadband technology developer Sandvine Corp. (TSX:SVC) delivered a $2.2-million profit in the third quarter, up from a $4.4-million loss a year ago, as network operators for mobile phones and Internet increasingly turned to the company for help in managing data traffic. Revenues increased to $24.4 million from $16 million. It shares rose 11 cents, or 5.6%, to $2.08.

Air Canada (TSX:AC.B) and United Airlines have agreed to form a revenue-sharing joint venture for flights between Canada and the United States. Shares in Air Canada slipped three cents to $3.08.

Shares in grocery store operator Loblaw Co. Ltd. (TSX:L) fell 36 cents to $40.84 after the company said employees of nine Loblaw-owned Zehr’s Great Canadian and Real Canadian stores in southwestern Ontario are set to go on legal strike Friday. Loblaw said all its stores will remain open.

Shares in Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. (TSX:BIM) added three cents, or 3.1%, to $1.01 after the company’s board of directors recommended shareholders reject a takeover offer from Nunavut Iron Ore that valued the company at $274.3 million.

And Bankers Petroleum Ltd. (TSX:BNK) shares were down 25 cents, or 3.4%, to $7.10 in very heavy trading of more than 20 million shares as the company reported third-quarter oil production came in lower than anticipated.