Toronto stocks tumbled lower Friday on weakness among the dominant energy, financial and materials groups as well as sagging investor confidence as negotiations on the U.S. bailout plan stalled.

The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 420.51 points, or 3.35%, to close at 12,126.00.

Shares of heavyweight technology firm Research in Motion plunged 28.2% after the company shaved back its profit outlook for its third quarter. RIM shares closed down $28.43 to $72.57.

The energy group slid 3.49%, as oil futures finished the day lower.

Crude oil for November delivery slipped US$1.13 during the day, to close at US$106.89 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week as a whole, the oil futures gained 4%.

Pulling down the energy group were hefty declines for Encana Corp., down 4.6% to $71.22, and Canadian Natural Resources, which ended down 4.3% to $80.56.

The financial group dropped 1.96%. This included a 6.1% dip for Sun Life Financial Inc., after reporting it has $270 million in exposure to failed Washington Mutual Inc. Sun Life shares closed at $37.10.

Both gains and losses were felt in the materials group, in which strong gold futures benefited some mining companies, but expectations of lower fertilizer prices hit producers of fertilizer. The materials group fell 3.67% Friday.

Shares of Barrick Gold Corp. rose 1.4% to close at $38.22, as investors turned back to gold as a safe haven. December gold rose US$6.50 to US$888.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The precious metal finished the week up 2.8%.

Agrium Inc. plunged 14.8% to close at $66.20, and Potash Corp. shares fell 6.9%, ending at $152.10.

The sub-gold index fell 1.1% on Friday.

The day wasn’t much better for equities on Toronto’s junior exchange. The S&P/TSX Venture composite index dropped 25 points, or 1.6% Friday, closing at 1,515.64.

The Canadian dollar increased US0.14¢ to US96.82¢.

South of the border, markets fared better. A rally late in the day pulled the Dow Jones industrial average up 121 points, or 1.1%, to 11,143.13, but the index still lost 2% for the week overall.

The S&P 500 climbed four points, or about 0.3% to 1,213.27, resulting in a weekly decline of 3.2%.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 3.23 points, or 0.1% on Friday, to finish at 2,183.34. It lost 4% throughout the week.