Toronto stocks closed lower on Friday as energy issues handed back a small portion of their recent gains. The S&P/TSX composite index fell 23.51 points, or 0.24%, to 9,754.69.

For the week, the key index finished ahead 0.65%.

Energy stocks were pulled down 0.5% by profit-taking after their recent run-up despite a near record high oil price of $56.72 a barrel, just off the new high it set earlier in the week.

Shares of EnCana fell $2.43, or 2.86%, to $82.54, while Talisman Energy eased 93 ¢, or 2.2%, to $41.35.

Heavyweight financial stocks fell 0.5%, while the industrials sector eased 0.37%.

Five of the 10 TSX groups finished lower.

U.S. blue-chip stocks ended a touch ahead on Friday but the Nasdaq closed at a 2005 low, capping a choppy session as the long-awaited rebalancing of the S&P 500 index was combined with quarterly options expiration.

During the session, the Nasdaq briefly fell below the psychologically important 2,000 level for the first time in 2005. It closed at its lowest level since November 2004.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 3.32 points, or 0.03%, to finish at 10,629.67, after falling as low as 10,557.04. The S&P 500 Index was down just 0.56 of a point, or 0.05%, to end at 1,189.65, after falling as low as 1,182.78.

The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was down 8.63 points, or 0.43%, to close at 2,007.79, after falling as low as 1,999.98.