Toronto stocks closed broadly lower Friday as government data showed declines in economic output in Canada and the United States.

The benchmark S&P/TSX composite index closed down 67.86 points, or 0.8%, to 8,694.90.

The TSX energy sector was off 1.6 per cent as the March crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange added 24 cents to US$41.68 a barrel.

Suncor Energy Inc. fell 2.3% and Canadian Oil Sands Trust fell 0.8%.

Financial stocks were mixed, with Royal Bank of Canada up 0.3% and Toronto-Dominion Bank down 0.4%.

The price of gold surged ahead, hitting US$928.40 an ounce, up US$21.90.

Goldcorp Inc. shares rose 0.6% and Barrick Gold Corp. fell 2.1%.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 2.09 points, or 0.24%, to finish at 822.63.

The Canadian dollar slipped 0.22 of a cent to close at US81.53¢, as Statistics Canada said gross domestic product fell 0.7% in November, with declines across almost all sectors.

In New York, U.S. stocks closed out their worst January ever with another slide after data showed the economy U.S. contracted at the fastest pace in nearly 27 years in the fourth quarter.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 148.15 points, or 1.82%, to 8,000.86. The S&P 500 slid 19.26 points, or 2.28%, to 825.88. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index tumbled 31.42 points, or 2.08%, to 1,476.42.

Both the Dow and the benchmark S&P 500 suffered their worst January ever, with the Dow down 8.8%, and the S&P 500 off 8.6%. The Nasdaq shed 6.4%.

IE