After starting the day down sharply, stocks in Toronto managed to regain some ground on Friday afternoon to close down less than half a per cent — a much milder drop than many had feared.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 37.26 points, or 0.4%, to close at 9,294.09. The index had opened the day down 5% after tumbling Asian stock markets sparked concerns that similar large-scale losses would hit North American markets.

Oil futures continued their descent despite OPEC’s announcement that it would cut output quotas by 1.5 million barrels per day. Crude for December delivery closed at US$64.15 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down US$3.69, or 5.4% for the session. For the week, it lost 11.1%.

Energy companies on the TSX fell 0.16%, with a 3.27% drop for shares of Petro-Canada, which closed at $26.89. Other energy companies posted gains, including a 1.9% boost for shares of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., which closed at $52.

Shares of Suncor Energy Inc. suffered early-day losses after yesterday’s announcement it was cutting capital spending plans, but finished the day flat at $26.20.

The financials group fell 2.45%, which included a 2.4% loss by National Bank of Canada shares, to close at $45.99, and a 5.17% drop for CIBC shares, to close at $52.30. Also lower were shares of IGM Financial Inc. down 6.78% to $34.10.

Amid all of the gloom, gold managed to shine on Friday. Gold for December delivery closed up US$15.60, or 2.2%, at US$730.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Despite the gain, the metal fell 7.3% this week.

The sub-gold index rose 8.05%.

Gold companies benefited from the precious metal’s price gains, contributing to a 4.88% boost for the materials group. Among climbers were Barrick Gold Corp., up 8.93% to close at $25.75, and Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd., up 12.83% to end at $33.86. Shares of Goldcorp Inc. also enjoyed a hefty 11.56% gain, closing at $22.

The S&P/TSX Venture compsosite index fell 27.04 points, or 3.15% to close at 830.96.

The loonie shed another cent against the U.S. dollar, to close at US78.56¢.

Markets south of the border finished the week with another day of hefty losses.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 312.3 points, or 3.6%, to end at 8,378.95, leaving the blue-chip index 5.3% lower for the week. The Nasdaq composite index lost 51.88 points, or 3.2%, to finish at 1,552.03, down 9.3% from last Friday’s close. The S&P 500 index fell 31.34 points, or 3.5%, to 876.77 –a weekly loss of 6.8%.