The Canadian stock market dipped on Friday as lower bullion prices pressured gold mining stocks.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 6.99 points, or 0.05 percent, to 12,816.63, while the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index decreased 2.22 points, or 0.18 percent, to 1,227.24.

Gold stocks were the biggest drags on the market on Friday amid falling bullion prices. Barrick Gold Corp. lost 1.32 percent to 33. 02 Canadian dollars a share while the company's main competitor Goldcorp shares decreased 1.59 percent to 35.81 Canadian dollars apiece. Gold miner Kinross Gold fell 4.67 percent to 8.58 Canadian dollars a share.

Energy stocks climbed, led by Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., which was up 0.82 percent at 30.92 Canadian dollars per share. Suncor Energy rose 0.7 percent to 34.37 Canadian dollars per share.

The information technology sector was down following a three- day rise. Blackberry maker RIM shares fell 1.07 percent to 17.61 Canadian dollars apiece.

Metals and mining sector dropped 0.49 percent as March copper on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed down about two U.S. cents to 3.66 U.S. dollars a pound. Teck Resources slipped 0.32 percent to 37.73 Canadian dollars per share.

In individual stocks, Canada's Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, the world's biggest potash producer, extended its Thursday gains to rise 3.05 percent to 43.93 Canadian dollars per share. Its fellow fertilizer maker, Agrium, added more than 1.3 percent after the company raised its fourth-quarter earnings forecast in 2012 on Thursday.

At closing, the Canadian dollar weakened to 0.9944 U.S. dollars at 5 p.m. local time (2200 GMT), a day after closing below parity with the American dollar for the first time since mid-November, compared with 0.9977 U.S. dollars on Thursday.