Loonie spikes, oil near US$50 a barrel, stock indexes near break-even

TORONTO -- Energy and financial stocks led the Toronto stock market to a slight decline, even as oil prices hovered around the US$50 a barrel mark.

The S&P/TSX composite index gave back 14.30 points to close at 13,964.36 after having soared more than 600 points in the week's first four trading days.

Meanwhile the oil-sensitive loonie was up 0.48 of a U.S. cent at 77.30 cents US amid general U.S. dollar weakness.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 33.74 points to 17,084.49, while the broader S&P 500 climbed 1.46 points to 2,014.89 and the Nasdaq added 19.68 points to 4,830.47.

On commodity markets, the December gold contract rose $11.60 to US$1,155.90 an ounce, while December copper shot up seven cents to US$2.41 a pound.

The November contract for benchmark oil gained 20 cents to US$49.63 a barrel, while November natural gas added 0.4 of a cent to US$2.50 per thousand cubic feet.