TORONTO (Bloomberg) - Most Canadian stocks fell as raw- materials companies declined after BHP Billiton Ltd. scrapped its record takeover bid for Rio Tinto Group and Toronto-Dominion Bank announced plans to bolster capital.

Barrick Gold Corp. paced the drop among mining shares after saying that it froze hiring at most operations in an attempt to conserve cash. Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) lid to the lowest in more than a week after BMO Capital Markets said the maker of the BlackBerry e-mail phone may sign up fewer subscribers than forecast this month.

The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index added 1.99, or less than 0.1 percent, to 8,442.86 in Toronto as 130 stocks declined and 105 advanced. Nexen Inc. led energy shares higher, helping the group rally a third day even as oil prices fell.

"We're definitely not buying bank stocks at the moment," said Robert McWhirter, who manages about $140 million at Selective Asset Management in Toronto. "There's concern RIM came up light on the quarter. Tech stocks are facing a challenge, as other companies are, because of lower earnings across the board. The market's trying to find a bottom."

The S&P/TSX added 9.3 percent in three sessions, the most since a three-day, 15 percent advance on October 30, boosted by the US government's bailout of Citigroup Inc. Canada's main stock benchmark is still down 39 percent this year, poised for its worst annual drop on record, after worldwide credit losses approached $1 trillion and commodity prices slumped.

Research In Motion fell 8.1 percent, the most since November 14, to C$50.77. Outlets of Verizon Wireless, the mobile-phone provider selling Research In Motion's new Storm phone since last week, received only a limited number of the handsets, BMO Capital Markets analysts led by Keith Bachman wrote in a note, citing conversations with "several" stores.

Bachman, based in New York, said he estimates that Research In Motion will gain 2.78 million new subscribers in November, missing the company's forecast of 2.9 million.