Toronto stocks made steady gains Friday, getting a lift from energy issues.

The S&P/TSX Composite index closed up 163.27 points, or 1.24%, at 13,318.37.

For the week the index was up more than 3%.

Eight of the 10 main TSX groups made gains.

The energy group gained 1.47%.

Crude oil for March delivery slumped US$2.79 to end at US$88.96 a barrel on the Nymex.

Petro-Canada shares gained 57¢, or 1.25%, to close at $46.20, recovering from yesterday’s losses.

The heavyweight financials group gained 1.56%.

TD Bank Financial shares gained $1.02, or 1.50%, closing at $69.03. CIBC shares gained 23¢, or 0.31%, to close at $73.48.

The gold sub-group lost 2.86%. Barrick Gold Corp. led this downward trend, closing down $1.22, or 2.35%, at $50.59.

Gold for April delivery fell US$14.50, to end at US$913.50 an ounce on the Nymex. Gold lost US$2.70 for the week, after closing at US$916.20 last
Friday.

In individual stocks, Biovail Corp. shares lost 46¢, or 3.36%, closing at $13.25, after the company revealed it is the target of a U.S. federal grand jury investigation related to its launch of Cardizem LA, a blood pressure drug.

Celestica Inc. was a big gainer, closing up 76¢, or 12.99%, at $6.61.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index closed up 11.61 points, or 0.45%, at 2,576.30.

The Canadian dollar finished off the week at parity with the U.S. greenback, ending up 0.01 of a cent from yesterday’s close.

In New York, markets bounced around a bit, but managed to close higher. Negative employment news from the labour department was balanced by
Microsoft’s US$45 billion offer to buy Yahoo.

The Dow rallied to close up 92.83 points, or 0.73%, to close at 12,743.19.

The S&P 500 made modest gains, rising 16.87 points, or 1.22%, to 1,395.42.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq was lifted by the Microsoft news to close up 23.50 points, or 0.98%, at 2,413.36.

For the week, the Dow and the S&P 500 notched their best weekly advance in almost five years, gaining 4.4% and 4.9%, respectively.

The Nasdaq had its best weekly jump in nearly 18 months, finishing up 3.8%.