The metals sector helped pull the Toronto stock market lower Friday, alongside worries that oil prices will further deteriorate.
The S&P/TSX composite index slipped 39.22 points, to close the week at 14,731.50, down 0.8% from the week before.
The Canadian dollar weakened 0.57 cents to 78.22 cents U.S.
Oil prices dropped Friday after the International Energy Agency said U.S. oil production was up 115,000 barrels a day in February.
Among energy issues, Imperial Oil swooned 12 cents to $46.57, while Canadian Natural Resources picked up 11 cents to $36.48
Elsewhere on the TSX, the base metals sector retreated while May copper was unchanged at $2.66 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources losing 35 cents, or nearly 2%, to $17.56.
The gold sector rose as Goldcorp hiked 49 cents, or 2.1%, to $24.12, and Barrick Gold improving six cents to $13.56.
The consumer staples sector dropped. But shares in convenience store chain Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. added 47 cents, or 1%, to $46.99 as the company said its proposed acquisition of The Pantry has passed the required waiting period under U.S. competition law, without changes.
The $1.7-billion U.S. deal which will add 1,500 locations in 13 states to Couche-Tard's North American network is expected to close Monday.
Some promise was shown by health-care stocks, led by the redoubtable Valeant Pharmaceuticals, which hiked $8.48, or 3.5%, to $252.82.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that the number of jobs decreased about a thousand in February, driving the unemployment rate up 0.2 percentage points to 6.8%, with more people looking for work.
In the 12 months to February, employment increased by 130,000, or 0.7%, with most of the growth in the second half of the period.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday that Canada's federal budget will show a deficit of just over $2 billion in the current fiscal year and will be balanced in the year starting April 1.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange tumbled 9.17 points to 664.60
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower on the day. Global base metals took a pounding of 1.4%, while their cousins among metals and mining issues lost 1.1%, and information technology stocks demurred 0.8%.
The four gainers were led by health-care, up 1.3%, gold, headed higher 0.9%, and materials, better 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed lower on Friday, as a week of mixed economic data, renewed dollar strength and sharply lower oil prices made traders cautious ahead of next week's Fed meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrials went south 145.91 points to 17,749.31, a loss of 1.4% on the week. IBM was the greatest laggard Friday and Microsoft led seven blue-chip advancers.
The S&P 500 lost 12.55 points to 2,053.40, with utilities leading all 10 sectors lower.
The NASDAQ index erased 21.53 points to 4,871.76
Dow Jones reports that prosecutors are interviewing people tied to investor Bill Ackman in a case involving potential manipulation of Herbalife's stock.
Ackman has had a long-standing short position in Herbalife, saying the nutritional supplements maker is a pyramid scheme. He told media outlets he has not heard from the FBI or the Justice Department, and that he's happy to answer any questions they may have for him.
Google is not planning to compete aggressively with soon-to-be-public GoDaddy in the internet domain space, according to a report in Friday'sNew York Post.
Pfizer's pain drug Lyrica did not meet goals in a study that examined its effectiveness in treating adolescents with fibromyalgia.
The Federal Open Market Committee meets next week, with all eyes on whether or not "patient" remains in the statement. Quarterly options also expire.
The U.S. dollar rose more than 0.5% to a new 52-week high, on track for its first close above 100 since April 2003. The euro extended losses to fall below $1.05.
The U.S. Producer Price index for February showed a decline of 0.5%, missing estimates of a 0.3% gain.
Consumer sentiment data showed a preliminary read of 91.2 in March versus 95.4 in February.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries weakened a mite, pushing yields back up to 2.11% from Thursday’s 2.10%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices shrank $1.91 to $45.14 U.S.
Gold prices regained $2.80 to $1,154.70 U.S.