USA and Canada Have 3 Bad Days On Markets

Economic report cards from both Canada and the United States came in better than expected Friday, but investors were having none of it, driving down stock markets on both sides of the border.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 166 points, or 1.5%, to 11,108 at the close. The big three sectors of financials, energy and materials were all negative.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold was down $1 to US$1,083.80 an ounce, while oil fell 75 cents to US$72.89 a barrel.

The Canadian dollar was down 26 basis points to 93.53 cents US late in the afternoon.

Economic growth in Canada was 0.4% in November, Statistics Canada said Friday, the third consecutive monthly increase. Economists had expected a gain of between 0.1% and 0.3%.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported the American economy grew at an annualized 5.7 % in the fourth quarter, surpassing expectations for 4.6 %.

Still, U.S. markets gave up their earlier-day momentum and finished down Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average was off by 57 points, or 0.6%, to 10,064 as trading stopped. The Nasdaq composite index was down 32 points, or 1.5%, to 2,147.

Markets were mostly up in Europe but down in Asia.

With files from John Morrissy