The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index closed lower on Friday, ending a six-session winning streak as energy and financial issues were sapped by profit-taking after recent hefty gains.
The Toronto Stock Exchange S&P/TSX composite index closed 84.92 points lower, or 0.7 percent, at 12,000.73, after rising as high as 12,119.71 earlier in the day.
The benchmark index, which ended at a record close of 12,085.65 on Thursday, end the week with a gain of 1.4 percent.
The energy group dropped 1.34 percent as oil prices slipped below $63 on profit-taking, high US inventories and a lowered Opec forecast on demand growth. US crude oil futures settled 81 cents down, or 1.3 percent, at $62.77 a barrel.
"There is a conflict of perception out there between supplies being stable and the market having some doubts," said Rob Moss, an oil and gas analyst at Acumen Capital Partners in Calgary.
"There is a lot of uncertainty on the direction of oil prices, and Opec is trying to make a case that everything is fundamentally sound, but I'm not sure the market necessarily supports that," he said.
The TSX's energy sector had gained almost 6 percent during the week before retreating on Friday afternoon.
Nexen Inc fell C$1.63, or 2.5 percent, to C$63.05, while Imperial Oil dropped C$1.09, or 0.9 percent, to C$118.00.
"The economy continues to be strong, and commodity prices are rising, that gave the market an impressive boost this week, but it will certainly take a pause at some point" said Vincent Delisle, a strategist at Scotia Capital in Montreal.
Delisle said the energy sector's fast pace this week is not sustainable.
Overall, eight of the TSX's 10 main groups fell, with the financial services group down 0.83 percent.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce fell 73 Canadian cents, or 0.9 percent, to C$84.02, while Royal Bank of Canada shed 50 Canadian cents, or 0.5 percent, to C$98.75.
The tech sector finished in the plus column, up 0.37 percent. Research In Motion rose C$1.10, or 1.1 percent, to C$100.00.
Nortel Networks Corp fell 3 Canadian cents, or 0.9 percent, to C$3.36.
The telecom equipment maker said on Friday that insurers will pay $228.5 million toward lawsuit settlements, bumping up to $2.7 billion the amount it will pay to investors claiming damages from accounting troubles.
Also on the upside, shares of mining companies rose 0.7 percent. Copper and zinc prices surged about 4 percent in New York on Friday amid institutional fund buying.
Inco Ltd added C$1.42, or 2.6 percent, to C$55.25.
In the health-care sector, Inex Pharmaceuticals doubled to 40 Canadian cents on news that it will license three chemotherapy drug products to Hana Biosciences Inc.
The blue chip S&P/TSX 60 index closed 5.28 points lower, or 0.77 percent, at 676.54. Market volume was buoyant, with a hefty 443 million shares worth C$8.2 billion changing hands. Advancers narrowly outpaced decliners 762 to 734. South of the border, stocks climbed as shares of industrial companies like Caterpillar Inc and United Technologies Corp were boosted by a US government report that signalled strength in the sector.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 26.41 points, or 0.23 percent, at 11,279.65. The Nasdaq composite index was up 6.92 points, or 0.30 percent, at 2,306.48.
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