Stocks dipped to end the week in Toronto, led by weakness in gold stocks after gold fell to its lowest in five years, while energy shares fell after fresh concern about China helped drive crude oil prices lower.
The S&P/TSX composite index slipped 56.95 points to end the week at 13,368.24. The index has dropped 8.6% this year, trailed only by Singapore and Greece among developed markets.
The Canadian dollar regressed 0.45 cents to 74.79 cents U.S.
Gold stocks took a knock, as Barrick Gold Corp. dropped 43 cents, or 4.3%, to $9.47, and Goldcorp fell 42 cents, or 2.6%, to $15.46.
Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. retreated 49 cents, or 5.6%, to $8.33 for a second day of losses. Suncor Energy Inc. Thursday said it may scrap its $4.5-billion hostile bid for the company if Alberta regulators endorse a poison pill that would give the target company more time to find other bidders.
Suncor fell 14 cents, or 0.4%, to $36.28.
The energy sector fell 1.3%, including a 2.8%, or 93-cent, drop to $31.77, in Canadian Natural Resources, pressured by a drop in U.S. crude oil prices.
Elsewhere, Loblaw Companies fell $1.81, or 2.6% to $67.52, while Valeant Pharmaceuticals International dropped $2.67, or 2.3%, to $115.22.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that its industrial product price index declined 0.5% in October – mostly due to lower vehicle prices, while its raw materials price index rode crude energy prices higher by 0.4% in the same month.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange squeezed higher 0.26 points to close Friday at 521.99.
Seven of the 13 TSX subgroups were higher Friday, as utilities triumphed 0.8%, real-estate gained 0.6%, and health-care moved higher 0.5%.
The six laggards were weighed most by metals and mining, off 2.7%, while gold slid 2.3%, and materials, off 2.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks ended mixed in light volume trade Friday, as Disney and oil prices suffered price declines as investors viewed Black Friday shopping results,
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 14.9 points to close the shortened session at 17,798.49, as shares of Walt Disney fell more than 3.5% after regulatory filings showed subscriber numbers to the firm's ESPN sports network declined more than 3% from the previous fiscal year.
The S&P 500 was up 1.42 points to 2,090.29, despite a near 1% decline in energy stocks. WTI crude traded more than 2% lower.
The NASDAQ index added 12.05 points to 5,128.20, helped by some gains in Netflix and biotech stocks.
U.S. stock markets closed at 1 p.m. EST on Friday.
Target said Black Friday weekend shopping got off to a good start with "unprecedented" results on Target.com and "a strong turnout" at stores Thanksgiving Day. The stock attempted to hold 0.5% higher.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries hesitated, lowering yields back to Wednesday’s 2.23%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices let go of $1.11 a barrel to $41.93 U.S.
Gold prices dipped $13.21 to $1,059.12 U.S. an ounce.
