The Toronto stock market was significantly lower Friday as oil prices stabilized following a steep slide Thursday while traders felt a bit more confident that Greece will get much-needed bailout money next month.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index was off 70.69 points to end the day and the week at 12,908.90
The Canadian dollar slid 0.88 cents to 101.29 cents U.S.
On Friday, the TSX energy sector fell as Suncor Energy lost 30 cents to $36.99 while Canadian Natural Resources shed 66 cents to $38.21.
The gold sector was down as Goldcorp Inc. faded $1.41 to $46.18.
Industrials fell, though Bombardier Inc. was up four cents to $6.59.
The mining sector was up as metal prices strengthened with the July copper contract on the Nymex up eight cents to $4.12 U.S. a pound. Sherritt International improved by nine cents to $6.26 while Taseko Mines gained four cents to $4.33.
On the TSX, Research In Motion lost 92 cents to $28.22.
In other corporate news, oil and gas company Niko Resources Ltd. said it will admit in court Friday that it bribed a Bangladeshi minister with the use of one of its vehicles and a trip to North America.
Niko will plead guilty to a single charge of providing goods or services to influence the acts or decisions of the foreign state. Its shares dropped $2.32 to $62.60.
Platmin Ltd. shares lost three cents to 61 cents after it announced Friday that it has suspended operations at its Pilanesburg mine in the Bushveld region of South Africa amid labour problems.
Processing operations were continuing using stockpiled material, the company said.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 9.55 points to 1,911.20 while the Nasdaq Canada index retreated 11.97 points to 534.05
In Toronto, 10 of the 14 subgroups were lower on the day. Gold stumbled 1.7%, information technology stocks slipped 1.3%, and materials fell 0.9%.
The four gainers were led by metals and mining, up 0.9%. global base metals, ahead 0.6% and telecoms, advancing 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks slid deep into the red Friday, as disappointing news from Oracle and Micron Technology weighed heavily on tech stocks, offsetting slightly positive economic reports on U.S. gross domestic product and durable goods orders.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 115.42 points, or nearly 1%, at to end trading at 11,934.60
The S&P 500 fell 15.06 points to 1,268.44. The Nasdaq Composite was down 33.86 points at 2,652.89.
The blue chips were dragged lower by Dow's tech members Microsoft, Intel and Cisco, and separately the drug company Pfizer. Pfizer shares fell after the FDA rejected its application for a new version of its pain medication oxycodone.
Shares of Pain Therapeutics which co-developed the drug with Pfizer, plunged 40%.
Tech shares were also the biggest laggards on the Nasdaq and S&P, following disappointing results from Oracle and Micron. Although Oracle's per-share earnings were in line with expectations, the company's hardware division struggled. Shares fell more than 4%.
Micron shares tumbled 13%, after the chipmaker posted a profit of seven cents U.S. a share -- less than half of what analysts were looking for.
Despite today's losses, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq remain on pace to end the week higher. However, the Dow remains down marginally for the week.
Meanwhile, investors continue to following developments out of Europe, where an agreement was reached Thursday among Greek leaders, the European Union and IMF. The news helped U.S. stocks recover nearly all their losses in the last hour of trading on Thursday.
The European Union pledged to extend aid to Greece, as long as the country introduces another round of tax hikes and spending hikes -- in an effort to help the debt-stricken country avoid a default.
Google said it received notice of an official complaint from the Federal Trade Commission, which is looking into whether the search giant abused its dominate position on the Web. Shares of the tech giant were down 1.5%.
Shares of Southern Union jumped 16%, after Williams offered to buy the pipeline company for $39 U.S. per share in cash. That tops Energy Transfer Equity's earlier bid for the company.
Newell Rubbermaid's stock was up 2%, after the consumer products maker named former Unilever executive Michael Polk as its new chief executive. Polk will succeed Mark Ketchum, who is retiring but will remain a director.
On the economic front, the Commerce Department's final reading on first-quarter GDP came in at 1.9%. Economists had expected GDP to remain steady at the previous revision of 1.8%.
Durable goods orders rose 1.9% in May, slightly higher than the 1.5% increase economists had been expecting. That's an improvement from April's downwardly revised 2.7% decline in orders.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained some ground, lowering the yield to 2.87% from Thursday’s 2.91%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 27 cents to $91.29 U.S. a barrel
Gold futures for August delivery fell $17.90 to $1,502.60 U.S. an ounce.
