Markets in Toronto approached early afternoon on a downward slant Friday, led by weakness in gold stocks after gold fell to a near six-year low, while energy shares fell after fresh concern about China helped drive crude oil prices lower.
The S&P/TSX composite index slipped 46.36 points to approach the midpoint of Friday’s session at 13,378.83.
The Canadian dollar regressed 0.42 cents to 74.82 cents U.S.
The materials group fell, including weakness in gold stocks as a firm U.S. dollar and a potential Federal Reserve rate hike next month weighed on gold.
Barrick Gold Corp fell 42 cents, or 4.4%, to $9.48, while Goldcorp was down 37 cents, or 2.3%, at $15.51.
The energy sector fell, weighed by a 1.3%, or 41-cent, drop in Canadian Natural Resources to $32.29, pressured by a greater than 2% drop in U.S. crude oil prices.
Loblaw Companies fell $2.01, or 2.9%, to $67.44, while Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc dropped $1.88, or 1.6%, to $116.01.
Helping support the index, Telus rose 20 cents, or 0.5%, to $41.99, while Shaw Communications was up 38 cents, or 1.4%, at $27.55.
Copper prices declined 1.3% to $4,575 U.S. a tonne.
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 dropped 0.99 points to 520.74.
Eight of the 13 TSX subgroups weakened Friday, with metals and mining drooping 3%, gold down 2.3%, and materials off 1.9%.
The five gainers were led by consumer discretionary, industrial and utility plays, each up 0.4%
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.
