North American markets ended the week on a down note with oil prices and some worrisome economic data dampening investors’ holiday spirit.

At close the S&P/TSX composite index was down 48.28 points or 0.54% at 8965.27. The TSX Venture Exchange climbed 16.50 points or 0.97% to 1714.38. On the week, the TSX was off about 1%, the TSXV 1.04%.

The Dow industrials lost 9.60 points or 0.09% to 10543.22. The Nasdaq slipped 0.94 of a point to 2128.07 and the S&P 500 was 1.24 points or 0.10% lower at 1188.00. All three major indices were lower for the week as Wall Street’s customary yearend rally stalled.

The Canadian dollar lost ground for a fifth straight day as the U.S. dollar continued to rally and investors reacted to the Bank of Canada’s decision this week to put interest rates on hold. The C$ was trading at US81.61¢, late in the day, down 0.31 of a cent from Thursday’s close.

Meanwhile, the price of oil fell despite the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ announcement it had agreed to cut oil production by one million barrels per day starting in January. The price of light sweet crude oil for January delivery was down $1.48 to US$41.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The drop in the price of oil pushed energy stocks lower. The TSX energy sub-group led the exchange lower, falling 1.32%. The influential gold group was also hit hard, losing 0.89%. Only three of the 13 sub-groups were in the black.

Financial stocks lost 0.17%, with newly listed ING Canada Inc. among the bigger losers. Its stock started trading on an “if, as and when issued” basis Friday at $29 and fell 0.41% to $28.88. AGF Management Ltd. was also down, 0.51%, as was Royal Bank of Canada, off 0.63%.

In New York, investors’ concerns over the economy and potential inflation outweighed the drop in oil prices, sending stocks slightly lower.

Wall Street was rattled somewhat by the Labor Department’s latest Producer Price Index report, which measures wholesale prices. The PPI rose 0.5% in November, far less than October’s 1.7% rise, but still a troublesome indicator of possible inflation.

The University of Michigan’s latest consumer sentiment index reading helped keep the market’s losses minimal, as the index rose to 95.7 from 92.8 in November. Economists had expected a reading of 93.2, and the index’s gains bode well for increased holiday spending this month.

Advancing issues barely outnumbered decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was moderate.