Friday drop adds to losing week on markets

Track of the TSX composite over a monthNorth American markets took a beating this week, with the TSX falling more than the leading U.S. markets.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell four out of five days and lost 472 points over the week, a drop of 4.6 per cent. Toronto's decline was greater than the 3.6 per cent drop in the Dow Jones industrial average and the 3.4 per cent fall of the Nasdaq.

The S&P/TSX capped the week with a drop of 84.21 points on Friday, leaving the index at 9,764.99. A week earlier, on May 7, it closed at 10,237.99.

Energy and mining issues were both weak Friday. The price of a barrel of oil fell $2.28 US to $56.34 US in trading on the New York futures market. Track of the TSX composite over a year

The Dow was down 62.68 points to 8,268.64. It closed at 8,574.65 a week earlier. Nasdaq, which closed at 1,739 on May 7, slid 9.07 points to 1,680.14 Friday.

The loss on the week ended a upward run that began in early March and left the TSX below the 10,000 mark.

Last week, the index rose 7.8 per cent.

The TSX is now more than 5,000 points below the level it closed at on May 15, 2008.