TORONTO (Reuters) — Toronto’s main stock index ended lower yesterday, as mining shares took a beating due to a combination of lower metal prices and profit-taking.The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed down 45.78 points, or 0.36 percent, at 12,737.21. Market volume heading into the holiday season was a light 287 million shares worth C$4.4 billion.

Six of the TSX index’s 10 main groups ended lower, led by a 1.6 percent drop in the mining-heavy materials group.

“Commodity-related stocks are having their round of profit-taking,” said John Ing, president of Maison Placements Canada. “It looks like some of the big funds, particularly some of the hedge guys, before the end of the year are cashing in their chips.”

Shares of base metal miners lost 3.6 percent, as all but one of the companies in the subindex finished the day in the red. Even with today’s decline, the mining sector is still up a healthy 39 percent on the year.

Zinc giant Teck Cominco shed C$2.99, or 3.4 percent, to C$83.99, while First Quantum Minerals sank C$5.43, or 8.4 percent, to C$59.57.

Elsewhere, the heavyweight financial services sector finished down 0.2 percent.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce finished 68 Canadian cents, or 0.7 percent, lower at C$98.30.

Meanwhile, the energy sector eked out a small gain of 0.2 percent, even as the price of US crude oil futures fell 1.7 percent on pre-holiday profit-taking and a mild start to the winter season in the US Northeast.

Data released yesterday painted a gloomier picture for the Canadian economy. Economic activity stagnated in October after falling 0.4 percent in September, while retail sales in the same month fell a steeper-than-expected 0.7 percent, Statistics Canada said.