Toronto stocks closed flat on Friday, but trading was heavy and volatile. The S&P/TSX composite index slipped 10.84 points to finish at 8,113.92, on heavy volume of 330 million shares.

Market sentiment was positive with advancers topping decliners 680 to 590.

The gold-mining sub-sector ended down 2.2% on profit-taking as bullion prices fell in New York. Bema Gold lost 22¢ to $4.30 and Meridian Gold fell 53¢ to $17.80.

The energy sector pulled back too — dipping 0.61% — after gaining more than 3% on Thursday as investors tucked away profits.

Shell Canada slipped 35¢ to $61, Encana fell $1.19, or 2.3%, to $50.91, and Petro-Canada lost 71¢ to c62.59.

On the upside, the industrials group rose 0.59%, with CAE gaining 49¢ $5.94.

Bombardier rose 4¢, to $5.35 after Air Canada said it will split a purchase of 90 regional jets between it and rival Embraer of Brazil.

Shares of graphics chipmaker ATI Technologies rose 17¢ to $19.63 after the company said strong growth in desktop computer products helped it post record revenues in the first quarter.

ATI reported revenues of US$469.7 million, up 40% from the first quarter of last year. ATI made a profit of US$47.4 million, up from the US$7.3 million it made a year earlier.


Traders shrugged off news that Canada’s annual inflation rate in November was 1.6%, matching October’s level.

The junior S&P/TSX venture composite index gained 9.60 points to finish at 1,663.94.

In New York, Dow Jones industrial average ended at its highest level in about 19 months for the fourth straight day on Friday, while the Nasdaq composite index and the S&P 500 index declined, in a volatile session by “witching,” the expiration of various derivative contracts.

“Quadruple witching” occurs each quarter on a Friday, and can trigger sudden moves in the market, as investors either exercise their positions or roll them forward at the last minute.

The Dow ended up 30.14 points at 10,278.22. The S&P 500 slipped 0.52 of a point to 1,088.66. The tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 5.16 points to 1,951.02.

For the week, the S&P added 1.4%, the Dow gained 2.4%, and the Nasdaq edged up 0.10%.

The Canadian dollar fell almost half a cent against its U.S counterpart. The loonie closed Friday at US74.78¢, down 0.46 cents on the day. That’s its first close below the 75-cent level since November 6.