Falling commodity stocks proved Friday the 13th true for Canadian markets, while technology shares proved to be the only positive on Wall Street.

At close, the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index was off 53.26 points or 0.57% to 9278.45. The TSX Venture Exchange slipped 4.65 or 0.28% to 1633.14.

New York’s Dow industrial average fell 49.36 points or 0.48% to 10140.12. The Nasdaq composite benefited from solid results from Dell Inc., rising 12.92 points or 0.66% at 1976.80, and the S&P 500 index slid 5.31 points or 0.46% to 1154.05.

The Canadian dollar currency was off almost a full cent late in the session, down 0.88 of a cent to US79.03¢, adding to the loss of more than 9/10ths of a cent over the last two sessions and up slightly from the intraday low of US79.06¢.

In Toronto, the market was pushed lower by energy and metals shares commodity prices fell, particularly energy shares as the price of oil stayed below US$49 a barrel.

Light sweet crude for June delivery turned higher, up 11¢ to US$48.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after dropping US$3.53 in the last two sessions.

The TSX energy sector was down 2.44%, with Petro-Canada dropping $1.30 in late trading to $67.70 and Suncor Energy Inc. off 65 cents to $46.10.

Gold and base-metals stocks also pressured the TSX. Gold shares lost 2.65%, while the TSX metals and mining group slid 2.57% and the materials group was off 1.51%. Late in the session, Barrick Gold Corp. was off 6¢ to $27.21, while Teck Cominco Ltd. lost $1.87 to $37.03 and Falconbridge Ltd. slid 75¢ to $35.25.

Tech shares were about the only group in the black — they added 3.14% — thanks to a positive outlook offered by U.S. giant Dell.

In New York, stocks dropped sharply as nervousness about consumer spending prompted a general selloff, cutting off a rally prompted by robust earnings from Dell. The Dow Jones industrials skidded more than 100 points before regaining some ground.

Blue chips and other stocks were also held back by the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index that showed a larger-than-expected drop in confidence. The May index came in at 85.3, substantially lower than the 88.3 expected on Wall Street.

Dell led the tech sector rally, climbing $2.80 to US$39.41 after it reported a 28% jump in profits. Investors saw the computer maker’s strength as a sign that companies were still making investments in computers and other big-ticket items. Dell also forecast higher revenue growth for the current quarter, which led to an upgrade by analysts at UBS.