After fluctuating between gains and losses during Friday’s trading session, the benchmark index of the Toronto Stock Exchange succumbed to a late-day plunge driven by resource stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index finished down 82.28 points, or 0.7%, at 11,445.95. But thanks to gains earlier in the week, the benchmark index finished the week up roughly 2%.

The sub-gold index suffered a 1.7% drop on Friday as gold futures retreated. Gold for December delivery finished down US$3.20, or 0.3%, at US$1,010.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, the precious metal gained 0.4%.

The materials group finished down 1.7%.

Shares of Barrick Gold Corp. dropped $1.01, or 2.5%, to $39.65.

Goldcorp Inc. fell 2.2% to $43.99, while Kinross Corp. plummeted 4.2% to $23.38.

Gainers in the group included HudBay Minerals Inc., which rose 5.9% to $9.16, and Quadra Mining Ltd., which surged 5.2% to $13.78.

The energy group dropped 1.5% on Friday as oil futures closed lower. Crude oil for October delivery finished down 43 cents, or 0.6%, at US$72.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. But for the week, the contract gained nearly 4%.

Shares of Imperial Oil Ltd. tumbled $1.84, or 4.4%, to $40.46.

EnCana Corp. fell $1.54, or 2.5%, to end at $61.39, and Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. fell 1% to $12.91.

Higher for the day was Crescent Point Energy Corp., which gained 1.4% to $38.23.

Financial sector stocks finished the day flat.

Higher for the day were shares of Manulife Financial Corp., which jumped 2.8% to $22.78.

Also higher was IGM Financial Inc., up 1.2% to $44.73 and TMX Group Inc., up 1.9% to $35.00.

Decliners in the group included Bank of Nova Scotia, down 1% to $47.85.

The healthcare group on the TSX surged 4% on Friday, driven by a 12% boost in shares of pharmacy-benefits manager SXC Health Solutions Corp. The company announced an increase in the size of a previously announced public offering of common shares to 4.5 million, and announced the pricing of the offering, at $41.50 per share. The company’s stock added $5.42 to close at $49.68.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index enjoyed a late-day surge to finish at 1,281.80, up 9.06 points, or 0.7%.

The Canadian dollar retreated by a quarter of a cent on Friday, to close at US93.48¢.

Meanwhile, equities in New York advanced on Friday, helping the main U.S. stock market indices finish the week with solid gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended at 9,820.20, up 36.28 points, or 0.4%. The blue-chip benchmark gained 2.2% for the week.

The S&P 500 index climbed 2.81 points, or 0.3%, to 1,068.30, for a weekly advance of 2.5%.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 6.11 points, or 0.3%, to 2,132.86, a weekly gain of 2.5%.

IE