Toronto stocks closed a positive week marginally lower on Friday as a slight retreat in commodities held off gains as the market slowed to a crawl ahead of Canada's Victoria Day long weekend. After four straight winning sessions, the Toronto Stock Exchange's key S&P/TSX composite index closed 17.59 points, or 0.19 percent, lower at 9,452.19. For the week, the key index gained 1.87 percent. "It's pretty quiet and that's because of the long weekend. Gold was a little weaker today. The strength in the US dollar more than anything else was the factor," said John Ing, president at Maison Placements Canada Inc. "But the market tone has definitely improved in the face of some of the lousy earnings reports and stuff like that."
Five of the TSX's 10 main groups ended lower, led by energy stocks. The group eased 0.81 percent as crude oil futures dipped slightly on word that Opec would not need to trim output at its next meeting in June. Crude prices settled above $48 a barrel.
Nexen Inc slipped 67 Canadian cents, or 2.13 percent, to C$30.83, while Cameco Corp eased 98 Canadian cents, or 2.02 percent, to C$47.57.
The materials group, home to base-metals and gold miners, was off 0.61 percent. Its gold-mining subgroup fell 0.56 percent. Gold prices finished at their lowest level since early February, hit by a US dollar that spiked to seven-month highs against the euro.
A stronger greenback makes US-dollar-priced precious metals less appealing to investors. Bullion closed around $417.70 an ounce.
Barrick Gold, one of the world's biggest gold producers, slid 45 Canadian cents, or 1.62 percent, to C$27.30. Zinc and lead miner Teck Cominco Ltd was down 87 Canadian cents, or 2.27 percent, at C$37.53.
Tech issues edged lower for only the third time this month, easing 0.58 percent. Zarlink Semiconductor Inc extended some of Thursday's losses following a bleak first-quarter forecast. The company was off 3 Canadian cents, or 1.70 percent, to C$1.73.
Market momentum was positive as 727 issues advanced and 578 declined on light volume of 159 million shares valued at C$2.6 billion.
The blue chip S&P/TSX 60 index gave back 1.60 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 529.25. US markets ended mixed after posting their best week since November.
The Dow Jones industrial average finished 21.28 points, or 0.2 percent lower, to 10,471.91, while the Nasdaq composite index closed higher for the sixth session in a row - its best winning streak in six months. The index was up 3.84 points, or 0.19 percent, at 2,046.42.
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