Mining and energy stocks led the way to a lower session on the Toronto stock market Friday amid falling prices for oil and copper.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index skidded 102.77 points to end the day, week and month at 12,643.78
The Canadian dollar fell 0.63 cents to 96.49 cents U.S.
The Toronto market hasn't fared nearly as well as its American counterparts, gaining just over 2% for this month and the year to date, with some of the greatest declines coming from the base metals sector amid weak demand for commodities and a stubbornly slow global economic recovery.
The energy sector was down and Canadian Natural Resources stepped back 91 cents to $31.03.
The base metals sector dropped while July copper edged two cents lower to $3.29 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources lost 89 cents to $27.70 while HudBay Minerals dropped 42 cents to $8.30.
The gold sector was down as Goldcorp Inc. faded 17 cents to $29.99.
There was also acquisition activity in the mining sector.
New Gold Inc. has reached a friendly deal to acquire Rainy River Resources Ltd., which has an advanced gold project in Ontario. The offer values Rainy River at about $310 million, net of its cash balance.
New Gold is offering $3.83 per share to Rainy River shareholders. New Gold shares declined 66 cents to $7.00 while Rainy River surged 94 cents to $3.64.
Centerra shares were 35 cents lower to $3.80 as hundreds of protesters attempted to storm the company's office in eastern Kyrgyzstan Friday.
The incident came after a protest that began earlier this week to demand that Centerra's Kumtor mine be nationalized. The mine is the largest foreign-owned gold mine in the former Soviet Union.
Financials were also a weight as CIBC shed 87 cents to $78.35 after investment banking firm KBW cut its price target to $76. It cited a potential for lower earnings and risk from the company's Aeroplan agreement with Aimia. The agreement is set to expire at the end of the year.
Canadian National Railway was also in focus after JPMorgan Chase upgraded its stock to neutral from underweight with a target price of $110. Its shares changed direction and fell 45 cents to $105.51, still leaving the stock up about 30% from its 52-week low.
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada said this country's Gross Domestic Product grew 0.2% in March, and on a quarterly basis by 0.6%, the fastest pace in six quarters, bolstered by a 1.5% increase in exports. On an annualized basis, GDP growth was around 2.5%, ahead of what experts projected.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange improved 1.67 points to close Friday at 962.41
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower, weighed mostly by metals and mining, down 2.7%, global base metals, down 2%, and materials, sliding 1.5%.
The lone gainer was in health-care, up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Even though the Dow Jones industrial average, S&P 500 and NASDAQ sank Friday, all three major U.S. indexes are up between 3% and 4% for the month.
The Dow Jones Industrials ended Friday down 208.96 points, or 1.4%, to 15,115.60
The S&P 500 index slumped 19.10 points to 1,635.31. The tech-rich NASDAQ Composite lost 35.38 points to 3,455.91
It's the first time the Dow has ended higher in May since 2009, and marks the sixth monthly gain for the index. So far this year, the major gauges are all up about 16%.
Hewlett Packard was the best performing blue chip in May. Shares of the PC maker rose nearly 23% this month. Cisco and JPMorgan have also logged double-digit percentage gains.
The main laggards were safe-haven stocks that investors had flocked to earlier this year because they pay dividends. Johnson & Johnson was the worst performing Dow stock, gaining less than 1% this month. Merck and Procter & Gamble also underperformed.
In corporate news Friday, Krispy Kreme said sales and earnings jumped in the first quarter, sending shares of the doughnut maker up 13%.
Lion's Gate shares rose after the media company said sales jumped 71% in the past fiscal year, helped by movies in the teen-oriented "Hunger Games" and "Twilight" franchises.
Shares of Palo Alto Networks plunged after the technology company swung to a big loss in the most recent quarter.
NASDAQ said Netflix will join the NASDAQ 100 on June 6, replacing health-care supplier Perrigo
Economically speaking, Stocks briefly pared losses following a report on consumer sentiment. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment rose in May to the highest level in nearly six years, confirming earlier readings.
Consumers have been encouraged by an improving outlook for the economy. But a separate report showed that personal income and spending both fell in April, surprising economists who had predicted a rise.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index bounced back in April, rising to the highest level since March 2012.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury sagged, raising yields to 2.16% from Thursday’s 2.12%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slumped $1.89 to $91.72 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices sank $25.00 to $1,387.50 U.S. an ounce
