Price of oil cruises past $60 US as TSX retreats from record-setting pace

Oil prices pushed past the $60 US mark for the first time in about 2½ years as Canada's main stock index finished 2017 with a retreat from its two-day record streak.

The February benchmark U.S. crude contract hits its highest levels since late June 2015, and ultimately settled Friday up 58 cents at $60.42 US per barrel, 

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX Composite Index finished the day at 16,209.13, down 12.82 points on the day. 

On Wednesday and Thursday, the TSX closed at record highs of 16,203.13 and 16,221.95, respectively.

For the year, the  S&P/TSX Composite Index was up just over six per cent.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average shed 118.29 points to 24,719.22. The S&P 500 index dropped 13.93 points to 2,673.61, while the Nasdaq composite index lost 46.77 points to 6,903.39.

For the year, the S&P 500 gained 19.4 per cent as each of the major Wall Street indexes had their best yearly performances since 2013. Nasdaq rose by 28.2 per cent.

The Dow added just over 25 per cent, as the 30-company average set 71 all-time highs as it rose from just under
20,000 points to past the 24,000 mark.

Dollar up

The average value for the Canadian dollar on Friday was 79.71 cents US, up 0.27 of a cent from Thursday

Elsewhere in commodities, the February natural gas contract gained four cents to $2.95 US per mmBTU. The February gold contract climbed $12.10 to $1,309.30 US an ounce and the March copper contract was down one cent to $3.30 US a pound.