Early gains on the Toronto Stock Exchange were lost by midday leaving the S&P/TSX composite little changed on Friday.

The benchmark index closed down 12.43 points, or 0.1%, at 12,894.84.

The index managed to end the week 1.2% higher, after closing up in three of five sessions.

The 10 main TSX groups were divided evenly in gains and losses.

The resource laden materials group rose 1.36%, while the gold sub-group lost half a per cent..

Gold prices surged today as a number of mines in South Africa were forced to shut down due to power problems. Gold futures rose US$4.90 to end at US$910.70 an ounce on Nymex.

Diversified metals also made gains, rising 1.49%.

Teck Cominco was a big part of this, rising $1.41, or 4.51%, to close at $32.66, on a day of fairly heavy trading.

The heavyweight financials group retreated, losing 0.69%.

CIBC shares lost 35¢, or 0.52%, to close at $67.24.

The energy group made modest gains, rising 0.16%, as crude oil for March delivery finished the day up US$1.30, or 1.5%, at US$90.71 a barrel on the Nymex.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index closed up, gaining 20.34 points, or .80%, to end the day at 2,554.06.

The Canadian dollar closed out at US$99.3, down 0.09 of a cent from yesterday, after a government report showed that inflation has sunk to a two-year low.

In New York, investors got anxious and stock markets closed down for the day, ahead of next week’s Fed rate announcement.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 171.4 points, or 1.4%, to 12,207.2.

The S&P 500 dropped 21.46 points, or 1.6%, to shut down at 1,330.61.

And the tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 34.72 points, or 1.5%, to end the session at 2,326.20.

For the week, the Dow gained 0.9% and the S&P 500 advanced 0.4%, while the Nasdaq slipped 0.6%.