The Toronto stock market closed slightly lower Friday at the start of a four-day holiday. Volume was light at 231 million shares as traders wound down ahead of Christmas.

The S&P/TSX composite index dipped 19.04 points, 0.15%, to 12,718.17, for a loss of 148 points on the week.

The information technology sector was down 0.03% after earlier providing lift in the wake of blowout earnings from Research In Motion Ltd. as the BlackBerry maker reported preliminary third-quarter profits of US$176 million on a 49% rise in sales.

However, RIM shares turned negative as traders took profits. RIM moved down $3.91 to $150.50.

The metals and mining sector rose 0.85% as Aur Resources Ltd. gained 50¢ to $23.10.

The utilities sector was up 0.5% as Energy Savings Income Fund gained 14¢ to $13.57.

Shares in TransCanada Corp. lost early gains to move 69¢ lower to $40.08 after the company said it is boosting its natural gas pipeline and storage operations by acquiring ANR Pipeline Co. and other assets for $3.4-billion (U.S.).

The energy sector edged up 0.15% as the February crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange slipped 25¢ to US$62.41 a barrel after falling more than US$1 on Thursday.

Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd. has adopted a shareholder rights plan thought it says it’s not aware of any pending takeover bids. Its shares rose 95¢ to $17.15.

CIBC shares fell 70¢ to $97.60 after the bank said on it has taken control of FirstCaribbean International Bank after it bought a stake from Barclays Plc for US$988.6 million in cash.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture Exchange added 26.11 points, or 0.92%, to 2,856.64.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.24 of a cent to US86.33¢.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average declined 78.03 points, or 0.63%, to 12,343.22 despite word that U.S. consumers boosted their spending in November by the largest amount in four months while manufacturers saw demand for big-ticket goods rebound.

The Nasdaq composite index was down 14.67 points, or 0.61%, to 2,401.18 while the S&P 500 index was off 7.54, or 0.53%, at 1,410.76.

For the week, the Dow ended down 0.8%.

The S&P 500 ended down 1.1% and the Nasdaq closed down 2.3%; both indices had their biggest weekly drops since July.

Trading was light ahead of the three-day Christmas weekend. New York markets reopen Tuesday.