Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market racked up a modest gain Friday as resource stocks benefited from crude oil and gold prices sent surging by investors spooked by protests in Egypt.

The S&P/TSX composite index rose 27.38 points to 13,437.58 as markets failed to get much in the way of lift from U.S. fourth-quarter economic news that came close to expectations.

The the TSX Venture Exchange rose 34.35 points to 2,268.32.

Nervous investors bailed out of equities as Egyptian riot police and the military battled the largest anti-government demonstrations in that country in decades.

A curfew imposed by President Hosni Mubarak did little to stop protests. Also on Friday, Fitch Rating revised downward its outlook for Egypt, dropping it to “negative,” and Egypt’s national airline, EgyptAir, said it had suspended flights from Cairo overnight.

“The commodities (advanced) from an oversold position as we head into a weekend with this uncertainty that other things will spread in the Middle East,” said John Kurgan at commodities futures broker Lind-Waldock.

“I think people are taking a little bit more comfort from buying some of these commodities, especially things like oil.”

The Canadian dollar closed below parity for the first time in 2011 as traders also flocked to the perceived safe haven of the U.S. dollar, falling 0.79 of a cent to 99.89 cents US.

The gold sector led advancers as investors looking for safety pushed the February bullion contract on the Nymex up $21.90 to US$1,341.70 an ounce. Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) gained $1.37 to C$47.39 while Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) gained 43 cents to $40.84.

Oil prices surged as the March crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange jumped $3.70 to US$89.34 a barrel. The energy sector was ahead 1.64%. Cenovus Energy (TSX:CVE) improved 71 cents to C$33.36 and Canadian Natural Resources (TSX:CNQ) climbed $1.18 to $43.08.

The base metals sector led decliners, down 1.91% even as the March copper contract on the Nymex added three cents to US$4.37 a pound. Equinox Minerals (TSX:EQN) lost 17 cents to C$5.85 while Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) declined $1.27 to $57.86.

The financial sector lost almost one per cent as Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO) fell 77 cents to $57.84 and TD Bank (TSX:TD) lost 88 cents to $74.48.

New York markets tumbled as the Dow Jones industrial average fell 166.13 points to 11,823.7.

The Nasdaq composite index plunged 68.39 points to 2,686.89 and the S&P 500 index was down 23.2 points at 1,276.34.

Earnings disappointments also pushed New York markets lower.

Ford Motor Co. reported Friday that it earned US$6.6 billion in 2010, its highest profit in more than a decade but still short of expectations. Analysts polled by FactSet had forecast earnings of $2.05 per share, but they didn’t take into account some one-time items such as debt repayments. Ford shares were down 13.4% at US$16.27.

Elsewhere in New York, Amazon.com Inc. fell 7.22% after reporting that higher costs cut its profit margins.

And Microsoft Corp. fell about almost four per cent after reporting late Thursday that the profitability of its Windows division was falling.

The worsening news from Egypt overshadowed data showing that U.S. gross domestic product grew at an annualized rate of 3.2% in the October-December period, slightly less than the 3.5% pace that economists had forecast.

But analysts pointed out that the data also showed inventories were down.

“People had expected inventories to be up and that generally contributes to the GDP number and the fact that inventories were down probably accounts for most of the miss,” said Norman Raschkowan, North American strategist at Mackenzie Financial Corp.

“So, actually, that’s kind of a good sign because it suggests that the growth is going to persist, that you’re not having inventories building up and suddenly people are going to revise production estimates down.”

In other corporate news, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (TSX:RIM) has been knocked out of the top five mobile phone sellers globally, says tech research company IDC. Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) stayed in the top five, but slipped to fifth spot in the last quarter of 2010 despite a record quarter for shipments of its iPhone, IDC said Friday. RIM shares eased $1.29 to $60.16.

Mutual fund and wealth management company AGF Management Ltd. (TSX:AGF.B) said fourth-quarter profit fell sharply to $31 million amid higher expenses, lower revenue and the absence of an income tax rebate recorded a year earlier. Its shares declined 83 cents to $18.03.

A regulatory panel has conditionally approved Total E&P Canada’s proposed Joslyn North oilsands mine, 70 kilometres north of Fort McMurray, Alta., with operations set to start in 2017. Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU) picked up a minority interest in Joslyn through a $1.75-billion deal with the French-owned E&P late last year. Suncor shares gained $1.49 to $40.04.

Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. (TSX:COS), which owns the largest share of the massive Syncrude oilsands mine, has posted better than expected fourth-quarter results. Net income rose from $96 million, or 20 cents per share, in the last three months of 2009 to $311 million, or 64 cents per share, in the same 2010 period. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had, on average, been calling for Canadian Oil Sands to earn 41 cents per share. Its stock gained 36 cents to $26.66.

The TSX had a positive week, rising 179 points or 1.35%, while Friday’s losses left the Dow industrials down 48.14 points, or 0.04%, on the week.