The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark index fell more than 95 points on Friday as investors punished energy shares as oil retreated from highs reached earlier in the week.
After dropping more than 140 points earlier in the day, the S&P TSX composite index managed to claw back some of the loss to finish down 96.34 points, or 0.79 percent, at 12,110.61. Despite the slide, the month proved to be a positive one for the index - on March 1, the composite closed just shy of the 11,800 mark.
But the pickup of some 315 points is unlikely to be repeated in April, said Douglas Davis, president of investment firm Davis-Rea Ltd in Toronto.
"People always sell stocks in April to pay their taxes, so I don't think this will be any different," he said. "April's never a really great month - I would suggest it's probably a down month."
On Friday, eight of the index's 10 main groups finished lower, with energy emerging as the loss leader after giving up 1.41 percent. The resource-laden materials group slipped 0.84 percent.
The S&P/TSX 60 index of Canadian blue chip names gave up 6.11 points, or 0.89 percent, to land at 682.54. The two commodities that underpin a large part of the market - oil and gold - both declined on Friday on geopolitical factors and profit-taking.
Crude oil prices calmed after Iran's foreign minister said his country would not cut oil supplies to help it fight the West in a simmering dispute over Iran's nuclear program. Iran is the world's fourth-largest oil exporter and the comments helped push down US light crude 52 cents to $66.63 a barrel. On Thursday, oil prices hit their highest level since early February.
Some oil producers sold off as a result, with Enterra Energy Trust sliding C$1.54, or 8.8 percent, to close at C$15.90, and Talisman Energy Inc losing C$1.03 to C$62.02. Petro-Canada shed C$1.16 to C$55.38.
Gold fell as well, as commodity funds and speculators locked in profits from a recent rally in bullion, which sent prices to 25-year highs. Friday saw gold for June delivery retreat $5.10 to $586.70 an ounce in New York Mercantile Exchange trading.
"There will always be pauses for breath," Gavin Graham, director of investments at the Guardian Group of Funds in Toronto, said of the action in gold. "Remember, it went from $550 back to $500 or under and it was: 'Oh, it's over' and here we are at $590."
The softer gold price was reflected in mining shares in Toronto, with Teck Cominco Ltd dropping C$1.50 to C$75.14, and Centerra Gold declining C$1.11 to C$38.58.
The broader selloff was slightly softened by a gain in the composite index's information-technology group, which added 0.49 percent on Friday. The lift came after Cognos Inc reported late Thursday that quarterly earnings slid 19 percent, but still beat analyst expectations. The software company's shares rose 75 Canadian cents to finish at C$45.36.
US shares also slid - the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 41.38 points, or 0.37 percent, to 11,109.32 as oil companies followed the lower crude price, offsetting tame inflation data. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index was almost flat, shedding 1.03 to 2,339.79. The S&P 500 index lost 5.42 to 1,294.83.
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