North American stock markets ended the week lower on mixed second-quarter corporate results and waning expectations of aggressive interest rates cuts later this month.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 8.29 points to 16,485.94.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 68.77 points at 27,154.20. The S&P 500 index was down 18.50 points at 2,976.61, while the Nasdaq composite was down 60.75 points at 8,146.49.

The Canadian dollar traded for an average of US76.51¢ compared with an average of US76.52¢ on Thursday.

The September crude contract was up US34¢ at US$55.76 per barrel and the August natural gas contract was down US3.6¢ at US$2.25 per mmBTU.

The August gold contract was down US$1.40 at US$1,426.70 an ounce and the September copper contract was up US4.25¢ at US$2.75 a pound.