The Toronto stock market was lower Friday with traders going into the weekend cautious about China's economic performance and the crisis over Ukraine.
The S&P/TSX composite index docked 17.48 points to end the day and week at 14,227.66
The Canadian dollar sifted off 0.22 cents at 90.12 cents U.S.
The TSX base metals segment plunged about 11% this week while copper, viewed as an economic proxy, dropped almost 10% over the last five sessions.
Copper is also used for financing in China and last week's first-ever corporate default raised worries that other failed companies could dump large quantities of the metal on markets, further depressing prices.
The base metals component gained strength as May copper rose three cents to $2.95 U.S. an ounce. Teck Resources took on 14 cents to $22.84, while Major Drilling Group gathered 25 cents to $9.19
Nervous traders sent gold higher for a fifth session, but the gold sector lost early momentum and was up only slightly. Barrick Gold shot up 22 cents to $23.20, while Goldcorp increased in price 11 cents to $31.76
The energy sector was slightly lower as Imperial Oil prospered 21 cents to $51.00, though Suncor declined six cents to $36.19
Health-care issues were in the green, as Extendicare added nine cents to $6.85.
Traders opted for safety, sending the utilities sector up, as ATCO Ltd. grew in price 12 cents to $52.05, and Algonquin Power & Utilities gained three cents to $7.73.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange remained positive 1.53 points to 1,033.64
Seven of the 14 Toronto subgroups were positive Friday, with gold and health-care issues each gaining 0.8%, while global base metals were 0.4% to the good.
The six laggards were weighed mostly by financials, off 0.7%, while industrials faded 0.6%, and metals and mining sputtered 0.3%. Consumer discretionary stocks were flat at the end of the session.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were lower on Friday following a sharp selloff Thursday on worries about the political climate in the Ukraine.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the day down 43.22 points to end the week at 16,065.67, after Thursday’s spilloff of more than 230 points.
The S&P 500 index lost 5.21 points to 1,841.13. The NASDAQ dwindled 15.02 points to 4,245.40.
In corporate news, shares of Aeropostale plunged after the retailer reported a bigger-than-expected loss and drop in revenue for the most recent quarter. It plans to close 52 stores this year.
General Mills shares were also lower. The maker of Cheerios and Yoplait yogurt warned that third quarter profits would be below Wall Street forecasts.
Keurig Green Mountain surged after the company amended a deal with Starbucks to expand the variety of Starbucks single-serve offerings. The K-cup originator also announced a deal with Peet's Coffee & Tea.
The stock has been red hot this year, surging 50% thanks largely to optimism about a new partnership with Coca-Cola. Coke also is taking a stake in Keurig.
Shares of Liberty Media climbed after the company said that it was no longer making an offer for all of Sirius XM. Liberty currently own 53% of the satellite radio provider.
And shares of Castlight Health soared in their market debut. The healthcare software company priced its initial public offering at $16 U.S. and surged more than 130%.
Shares of Activision Blizzard are trading at an all-time high. Video game retailer GameStop was also sharply higher.
Investors are bracing themselves for Sunday's referendum in Crimea, where voters will decide whether to break away from Ukraine and join Russia. Ukraine and the West have described the vote as illegal. They have accused Russia of violating Ukraine's sovereignty and are threatening sanctions.
Economically speaking, the University of Michigan's widely-watched index of consumer confidence declined to 79.9 from 81.6 in February and was lower than the 82.5 reading that had been forecast.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were slightly higher, lowering yields to 2.64% from Thursday’s 2.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 76 cents to $98.96 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices strengthened $10.50 to $1,382.90 U.S. an ounce.
