The Toronto stock market moved lower at the end of a losing week as more signs emerged that the European government debt crisis is worsening.
The S&P TSX Composite Index ended the day down 23.26 points to end a rough week at 11,462.06
Worries about Europe have carved about 400 points from the main Toronto index this past week.
The Canadian dollar was behind 0.23 cents to 95.29 U.S. cents.
Italy had to pay an average yield of 7.814% to raise €2 billion in two-year bills, much higher than the 4.628% it had to pay in the previous auction in October. Higher yields are an indication of uncertainty that the debts will be repaid.
Raising €8 billion for six months proved exorbitantly expensive. The yield for this auction spiked to 6.504%, nearly double the 3.535% rate in the last equivalent auction last month.
The TSX energy sector fell as Suncor Energy fell 56 cents to $28.19 while Cenovus Energy was down 14 cents to $30.18.
The TSX gold sector was down as Goldcorp Inc. faded a penny to $50.26.
The base metals component fell with the December copper contract in New York off a penny to $3.27 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources gave back 66 cents to $32.66.
The financial sector fell with Royal Bank down 50 cents to $43.40 and Sun Life Financial fell 10 cents to $18.32.
Tech stocks were also a drag as Research In Motion Ltd. fell two cents to $16.98.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange settled 7.96 points to 1,505.14, while the Nasdaq Canada index faded 2.51 points to 371.69.
All but five of the 14 Toronto subgroups were negative on the day
Information technology tumbled 0.9%, global base metals fell 0.8% and the metals and mining group was down 0.6%.
The five gainers were led by health-care, which added 1.1%, consumer discretionaries, up 0.7%, and real-estate, inching up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks ended lower Friday, logging the worst weekly losses in two months, as euro-zone fears continued to weigh on investor sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrials ended Friday’s session down 25.61 points to 11,231.94, finishing in the red for a fourth consecutive day
The S&P 500 slid 3.12 points, to 1,158.61, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 18.52 points to 2,441.56, booking their eighth consecutive daily declines.
U.S. markets closed at 1 p.m. Friday due to the Thanksgiving holiday
Worries about Europe's debt crisis continued to dominate the week amid a series of weak debt auctions and rising euro-zone bond yields. Stocks around the world have fallen sharply. The Dow dropped 4.8%, the S&P 500 shed 4.7% and the Nasdaq tumbled more than 5% this week.
Shares of AT&T eased after the telecom service provider said Thursday it was taking a $4-billion U.S. charge to cover the breakup fee it will owe, if its deal to acquire T-Mobile falls through.
The FCC said earlier this week that it will oppose the merger, becoming the second regulatory body to do so.
As shoppers hit the malls and big box stores to take advantage of Black Friday deals, retail stocks were in focus. Shares of Best Buy slipped slightly, while Amazon.com shares dropped 3.5%.
On Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy continued to oppose eurobonds as a solution, but the leaders did suggest that some type of fiscal unity could help stem the crisis.
But any move would require a treaty change that all 27 European Union members would need to ratify, a process that could take years. That's among the options expected to be discussed when E.U. leaders gather in Brussels next month
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury faded, with the yield rocketing up to 1.96% from 1.88% from late Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil for January delivery nipped up four cents to $96.19 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for December delivery fell $10.10 to $1,685.70 an ounce.
