TSX, Dow close nearly 1.5% lower

Beginning of Story Content North American stock markets closed lower Friday, adding to their sharp losses a day earlier. On Friday, Canada's benchmark S&amp;P/TSX composite index dipped below the 12,000 level during trading, but managed to close at 12007.47, down 179.24 points, or 1.47 per cent, and down 4.3 per cent on the week. In New York, U.S. stocks suffered their biggest four-week losses since March 2009. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 172.93, or 1.57 per cent, to 10,817.65. The Dow's drop was due in part to Hewlett-Packard Co., which plunged 21 per cent. The company said Thursday that it will close its mobile business, sell or spin off its PC business and pay <a href="http://www.theapparelend.com/men-pants-gstar-c-1003_954.html"><strong>g-star men trousers</strong></a> 10 billion US for a business software company. The Dow has now lost 14 per cent since global stocks began falling on July 21. The Nasdaq composite closed at a 10-month low, falling 38.59 points, or 1.62 per cent, to 2,341.84. The S&amp;P 500 was lower by 17.12 points, or 1.5 per cent, to 1,123.53. Traders did not want to take the chance of holding stocks if one of their biggest concerns, the European debt situation, worsened over the weekend. "These things usually break out over the weekend and then you have a mad dash Monday to react to them," said Mike McGervey, the head of McGervey Wealth Management. S&P/TSX Global Gold Index 3-month chart Gold closed in on 1,900 US an ounce with the the widely traded December contract reaching a record high of 1,881.40 before falling back to end at 1,852.20, a gain of 30.20. The Canadian dollar closed down 0.02 of a cent, at 101.15 cents US. September oil closed down 12 cents in New York 82.26 US a barrel. In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 closed down one per cent to 5,040.76, while Germany's DAX fell 2.2 per cent to 5,480.00. France's CAC-40 was down 1.9 per cent to 3,016.99. Earlier, Asian shares also took a beating following the big retreat Thursday in Europe and the U.S. Japan's Nikkei 225 index dropped 2.5 per cent to 8,719.24 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 3.1 per cent to 19,399.92. Friday's losses came the day after a sharp sell-off on North American markets as traders worried about a possible U.S. recession and the health of European <a href="http://www.theapparelend.com/index.php"><strong>women footwear onsale</strong></a> banks. On Thursday, the S&amp;P/TSX composite index lost almost 400 points, or more than three per cent, while U.S. markets fell between four and five per cent. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told a parliamentary committee Friday that Canada can't be immune to the current global economic turmoil, but that so far, his budget projections remain on track. "While <a href="http://www.theapparelend.com/women-pants-hollister-c-1138_1126.html"><strong>hollister apparels</strong></a> Canada experienced greater than expected growth in the first quarter, that is expected to be balanced out by a softer than anticipated second quarter," the minister said. Flaherty was called to testify before the committee after two weeks of frenzied trading on stock markets. The committee also heard from Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, who said the U.S. is facing its weakest recovery since the Depression. "Recent events serve as a reminder that, in a world awash with debt, repairing the balance sheets of banks, households and countries will take years," Carney said. "As a consequence, the pace, pattern and variability of global economic growth is changing and Canada must adapt. In short, the considerable external headwinds that the bank has long identified are now blowing harder." With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press End of Story Content Back to accessibility links