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U.S. stocks took a turn for the worse on Friday, leaving them deep into negative territory in midday trading after crude oil rose to a new post-recovery high.

At noon, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 96 points or 0.8 per cent, to 12,162. The broader S&P 500 was down 12 points or 0.9 per cent, to 1319.

The declines were widespread, affecting all 10 subindexes within the S&P 500. Financials were the worst hit, falling 1.5 per cent. Industrials fell 1.1 per cent and consumer discretionary stocks fell 0.8 per cent.

Some defensive stocks fared better, but still fell. Health care stocks fell 0.2 per cent, while consumer staples and telecom services fell 0.4 per cent each.

In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index was up 30 points or 0.2 per cent, to 14,244.

Commodity stocks helped boost the index into positive territory, with energy stocks and materials up 0.7 per cent each. As well, industrials rose 0.3 per cent and financials were flat.

However, information technology stocks slumped 2 per cent, consumer staples fell 0.9 per cent and telecom services fell 0.2 per cent.

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