Canada's main stock market in Toronto continued the downward trend on Friday as energy declines outweighed gains in financials and industrials groups.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index lost 8.22 point, or 0.06 percent, to close at 14,687.46 points. Three of the TSX index's eight main sub-sectors were lower.

Oil prices fluctuated in a tight range Friday, with U.S. oil logging a seven-day winning streak, as traders became cautious after recent solid gains.

U.S. light sweet crude for September delivery increased 0.30 U.S. dollar to settle at 48.22 dollars a barrel in New York, while Brent crude for October delivery fell 0.01 dollar to close at 50.88 dollars a barrel in London.

TSX energy went down 0.44 percent as Canadian Natural Resources Limited lost 0.43 percent to 41.77 Canadian dollars (32.49 U.S. dollars) while Suncor Energy Inc. shed 0.25 percent to 36.55 Canadian dollars.

Gold lost ground, snapping a week-long advance after a top Federal Reserve official joined other policymakers signaling support for a U.S. interest rate hike in coming months.

Among gold stocks that took their knocks, Barrick Gold slumped 1.49 percent to 26.48 Canadian dollars, while Goldcorp Inc. dropped 1.22 percent to 23.56 Canadian dollars.

Among health care issues, beleaguered drug maker Valeant Pharmaceuticals lost 0.62 percent to 36.96 Canadian dollars, while rival Concordia International sank 2.71 percent to 11.83 Canadian dollars.

In the industrial sector, Bombardier lost two cents, or 1.1 percent, to 1.96 Canadian dollars, while Canadian Pacific Railway chugged along 2.00, or 1 percent, to 196.10 Canadian dollars.

Financials did their bit, too, to make up for the losses, as Manulife spiked 36 cents, or 2.12 percent, to 17.36 Canadian dollars, and Royal Bank of Canada took on 82 cents, or 1.02 percent, to 80.96 Canadian dollars.

On the economic scene, Statistics Canada reported that the year-on-year consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.3 percent in July, after increasing 1.5 percent in June. Excluding gasoline, the CPI was up 1.9 percent year over year in July, matching the gain in June.

The agency also said retail sales edged down 0.1 percent to 44.1 billion Canadian dollars in June. Sales declined in seven of 11 sub-sectors.

The Canadian dollar traded lower at 0.7778 U.S. dollar, compared with Thursday's closing rate of 0.7833 U.S. dollar.

Source : XINHUA