Toronto stocks finished down Friday, as the price of oil retreated, sending the energy sector lower. The S&P/TSX composite index fell 54.86 points, or 0.52%, to 10,484.07.

Volume on the senior exchange was 202 million shares.

For the week, the bench mark index gave up 12.08 points.

U.S. light crude settled down $1.36 at US$66.13 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The energy sector dropped 1.3%. Six of the 10 TSX main groups ended lower.

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources fell $1.53, or 2.8%, to $52.88, while Talisman Energy dropped $1.56, or 2.7%, to $54.94.

The financial sector was down 0.32% despite the solid quarterly profits reported by Royal Bank and Laurentian Bank.

Royal Bank reported a third-quarter profit of $979 million, a 32% jump, while Laurentian Bank reported a third-quarter profit of $15.8 million, up from $9.7 million last year. RBC shares gained $1.67, or 2.17%, to $78.53, while Laurentian stock lifted 60¢, or 2.20%, to $27.85.

In other earnings news, Com Dev International Ltd. reported its third-quarter profit dropped to $1.6 million, from $3.7 million last year. Com Dev shares fell 57¢, or 18.27%, to $2.55.

Memory chip maker Mosaid Technologies Inc.’s first-quarter profit surged to $4.4 million from $92,000 on lower legal expenses. Its stock rose $1.49, or 7.6%, to $21.09.

In economic news, Statistics Canada reported that higher energy prices helped drive up the annual inflation rate up to 2% in July, making it almost certain that the Bank of Canada will raise interest rates in September.

The Canadian dollar slipped 0.47 of a cent to finish at US83.36.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished down 2.59 points, or 0.14%, to 1,914.34.

In the U.S., investors took in bearish comments on the economy from U.S. Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan, which overshadowed today’s lower crude oil prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 53.34, or 0.51%, to 10,397.29. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index dipped 7.29, or 0.6%, to 1,205.10, and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 13.60, or 0.64%, to 2,120.77.

Greenspan said that while rising stock and home prices have driven spending in recent years, perceived wealth could evaporate in the face of a rapid economic downturn.

For the week, the Dow lost 1.53%, the S&P fell 0.69% and the Nasdaq dropped 1.2%.