Toronto stocks finished higher Friday, despite a drop in commodity prices, ending an otherwise negative week on a positive note.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 0.58%, or 62.28 points, to close 11,833.61. For the week, benchmark index fell 145.07 points.

Eight of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were up, with the energy sector gaining 0.97%, despite a drop in the price of oil.

Crude futures fell 51¢ to US$59.96 a barrel.

Canadian Natural Resources gained 24¢, or 0.37%, to $64.25.

The materials sector also moved up 1.54% despite a drop in the price of bullion.

The benchmark April contract for gold fell $5.70 to end at US$541.30 an ounce. On the week, gold fell 4.7%.

Goldcorp Inc. gained 87¢, or 2.92%, to $30.62.

Nortel announced a fourth-quarter loss of US$2.21 billion, compared with a profit of US$107 million last year. Nortel shares lost 11¢, or 3.05%, to $3.50.

In economic news, Statistics Canada reported the unemployment rate dropped to 6.4% in February, from 6.6% in January.

The Canadian dollar closed unchanged at US86.10¢.

The S&P/TSX Venture Exchange index ticked ahead 3.05, or 0.12%, to 2,568.83.

In New York, lower energy prices and a solid February employment report boosted the markets.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 104.06 points at 11,076.34, the Nasdaq composite climbed 12.32 points to 2,262.04, and the S&P 500 Index rose 9.35 points to 1,281.58.

For the week, the Dow industrial gained 0.5%, the Nasdaq dropped 1.8%, and the S&P500 lost 0.4%.