NEW YORK (Bloomberg) - Canadian stocks fell for a third straight day as mining companies slumped following a bigger- than-estimated drop in US jobless claims, offsetting gains by energy producers and banks.

Detour Gold Corp. and Silvercorp Metals Inc. lost more than four percent, the biggest declines in the Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index, as the metals declined. Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank, the country's biggest lenders, led gains in financial companies after applications for unemployment benefits in the US, Canada's largest trading partner, fell to an almost two-month low.

The S&P/TSX fell 8.73 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,033.53 at 4.10 p.m. in Toronto after gaining as much as 0.6 percent. The main benchmark for Canadian equities closed at an almost three-month high of 12,144.92 on September 3.

"With positive news today on the jobs front, there is less fear and perhaps less desire to run into gold," said Philip Petursson, a managing director at MFC Global Investment Management in Toronto.

Gold futures for December delivery had the biggest drop in almost three weeks as US stocks advanced. The S&P/TSX Gold Index slumped 2.3 percent, the most since September 1. Silver futures fell 0.8 percent to $19.86 an ounce.

Detour Gold, which develops a gold mine in northern Ontario, sank 4.4 percent to C$28.70. Silvercorp, which mines in China, declined four percent to C$7.65.

Royal Bank of Canada gained 1.1 percent to C$53.11. Toronto-Dominion increased one percent to C$74.62. Financial companies in the S&P/TSX rose 0.9 percent as a group.

US financial institutions led the Standard & Poor's 500 Index higher after Labour Department data showed new claims for unemployment insurance dropped by 27,000 to 451,000 last week.

Bombardier Inc. rose 3.7 percent to C$5.04. The world's third-largest commercial planemaker is in talks with a dozen customers in Asia for sales of its C-Series jets, Brian Schmalz, Asia-Pacific director for marketing and airline analysis, said in Shanghai. He declined to elaborate.

Transcontinental Inc. gained 4.9 percent to C$13.79. The publisher of consumer magazines and newspapers was raised to "neutral" from "underperform" at Credit Suisse Group AG by analyst Colin Moore.

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. fell 0.6 percent to C$23.05. The operator of 5,878 convenience stores in the US and Canada had its offer to buy Casey's General Stores Inc. topped by 7-Eleven Inc. The unit of Japan's Seven & I Holdings Co. offered $40 a share, trumping Couche-Tard's $38.50 bid, according to people with knowledge of the matter.