TORONTO — Despite some better-than expected bank earnings and another rise in gold prices, Canadian stocks fell for the first time in three days Thursday after weak U.S. economic data triggered fresh concerns about the economic recovery and Research in Motion Ltd. shares dropped on news the BlackBerry maker is facing a patent infringement lawsuit south of the border. The S&P/TSX composite fell 143.18 points or 1.22 per cent to 11,636.55, while the TSX venture exchange lost 0.18 points or 0.01 per cent to 1,461.61. In the U.S. stocks also fell on the unexpected report from the Institute for Supply Management saying its gauge of non-manufacturing businesses dropped to 48.7 last month, below economists' estimates. A reading of 50 indicates growth. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 86.53 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 10,366.15. The S&P 500 dropped 9.32 points or 0.84 per cent to 1,099.92 and the Nasdaq composite index closed at 2,173.14, down 11.89 points or 0.54 per cent. "There's no sugar-coating this report, it's as grim as the headline figure suggests, said Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets. "While it's unlikely that the economy will backslide into recession, anyone looking for a rapid recovery may need to rethink their view in light of this cold-hard reality check." Losers outpaced gainers in Toronto by a ratio of three-to-one and eight of ten sub-indexes ended in negative territory. Financials fell 1.35 per cent, energy stocks were down 1.15 per cent and basic materials were off 1.81 per cent. On commodity markets, gold closed up $5.30, to $1,218.30 U.S. an ounce, after reaching as high as $1,227.50 earlier in the day. Crude oil fell 14 cents to $76.46 U.S. a barrel. The Canadian dollar, meanwhile, closed at 94.81 cents, down 42 basis points. Research in Motion Ltd. fell two per cent to $61.53 after Prism Technologies LLC reasserted a claim RIM's BlackBerry devices, desktop software and servers infringe a patent for an authentication system that can be used with services conducted over the Internet. Prism filed the complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington. Canadian bank earnings reports were positive with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and TD Bank beating expectations on improved results out of their capital markets operations, while National Bank's results fell short of street expectations. CIBC was the only bank of the three to advance in trading Thursday. Elsewhere, north of the border, Canadian investment funds gained last month, largely due to soaring gold prices, according to a report from Morningstar Research. Morningstar said all but one of its 43 fund indexes that it uses to track markets were ahead in November. That was a switch from October, which saw broad-based declines, something rarely seen since the market turned the corner from crisis depths in March. On the economic front, a private report predicted Canada's housing market will have grown through the recession.

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