Toronto stocks finished slightly lower on Friday as gains in energy shares were offset by profit-taking in the financial sector.

The S&P/TSX composite index slipped 12.47 points, or 0.1%, at close at 12,119.83.

The benchmark index gained 0.6% on the week.

Half the 10 TSX main groups finished lower.
The oil and gas sector gained 0.5% as oil prices rose amid a brewing tropical storm in the Caribbean, which is forecast to move through the Gulf of Mexico next week.

Light sweet crude rose 15 cents to US$72.51 a barrel in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Shares of Suncor Energy Inc. were up $1.07, or 1.2%, to close at $89.71.

The heavily weighted financial sector was 1% lower even though Royal Bank reported a 20% rise in quarterly profit, boosted by strong revenue growth across all business segments, as well as lower taxes.

Royal Bank shares fell 90¢, or 1.8%, to end at $49.80.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index jumped 39.21 points, or 1.48%, to end at 2,685.42.

The Canadian dollar climbed 0.10 of a cent to US90.13¢.

On Wall Street, blue chip stocks fell as crude oil prices climbed. Technology shares, however, posted modest gains, helped by a bounce in Apple Computer Inc. shares, a day after the company forecast no financial fallout from a recall of notebook PC batteries.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 20.41 points, or 0.18%, to end at 11,284.05. The S&P 500 index dipped just 0.97 of a point, or 0.07%, to close at 1,295.09. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 3.18 points, or 0.15%, to finish at 2,140.29.

For the week, the Dow ended down 0.86%, Nasdaq fell 1.09% and the S&P 500 dropped 0.55%.

Today’s speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke failed to give investors any hints about interest rate policy despite their concerns that the economy might be slowing too fast.

Instead, Bernanke, speaking to the Fed’s annual symposium at Jackson, Wyo., spoke about the dangers of protectionism.