Financial issues pulled the Toronto stock market lower Friday as U.S. markets struggled with weak consumer spending and confidence data.

The S&P/TSX composite index lost a lot of ground in afternoon trading, closing down 171.99 points, or 1.28%, at 13,233.79.

Even though today’s session ended in the red, the TSX still finished the week 3.6% higher.

Nine of the 10 major TSX groups ended lower Friday.

The financials group led the drop, sinking 2.80%.

Bank of Montreal shares fell $1.41, or 3.07%, to close at $44.52, after it announced the appointment of risk management expert Don Wilson, formerly of J.P. Morgan Chase, to its board of directors.

Royal Bank of Canada and TD both took hits as well today. RBC shares fell $1.83, or 3.83%, to end at $45.93 while TD shares lost $2.52, or 3.97%, to close at $60.98.

The materials group fell 0.74% as the gold sub-index fell 0.53%.

Iamgold Corp. shares gained 2¢, or 0.25%, to end at $7.97, after it reported Q4 revenue jumped to US$194.2 million while net earnings dropped to $8.5 million.

Barrick Gold Corp. shares fell 55¢, or 1.19%, to close at $45.60, as CEO Greg Wilkins announced he is taking a leave for medical reasons and chairman Peter Munk will fill his spot as interim-CEO.

April’s gold contract dropped US$18.20 to end at US$930.60 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Meanwhile, the base metals group fell 0.80% as shares in Eastern Platinum fell 7¢, or 2.05%, to end at $3.35.

The heavyweight energy group fell 1.04% as oil futures closed down today after four days of upward momentum.

Crude for May delivery fell US$1.96, or 1.8%, to end at US$105.62 a barrel on the Nymex. The week’s rises were based on news of a damaged pipeline in Iraq, but reports expected repairs to be completed by the end of today.

Shares in Encana Corp. fell 75¢, or 0.97%, to end at $76.36 while Suncor Energy Inc. shares fell 38¢, or 0.38%, to end at $99.50.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index closed up 5.40 points, or 0.21%, at 2,526.49.

The Canadian dollar slipped 0.29 of a cent to US97.90¢.

In New York, markets were weighed down by a weak 0.1% gain in U.S. personal spending.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 86.06 points, or 0.70%, to end at 12,216.40. The S&P 500 shed 10.54 points, or 0.80%, to close at 1,315.22.

As well, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index lost 19.65 points, or 0.86%, at 2,261.18.

For the week, the Dow fell 1.17% and the S&P dropped 1.08%, while the Nasdaq rose 0.14%.