Toronto stocks closed higher on Friday as gains in resource issues offset a flat tfinancials group. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 40.31 points, or 0.42%, at 9,619.36.

Volume was 187 million shares.

On the week, the benchmark index gained 1.8%.

Six of the 10 TSX main groups advanced with the energy and material sectors each up around 1% on the back of high oil and metals prices.

The price of crude oil pushed to US$51.85 a barrel ahead of the U.S. Memorial Day weekend, the start of the summer driving season.

Most of Canada’s biggest oil companies rose. Canadian Natural Resources gained $1.44, or 4%, to $36.84.

Gold miners, a sub-sector of materials, advanced 2.49% as spot bullion prices rose to US$420 an ounce from three-month lows hit earlier this week.

The heavily weighted financial sector rose a mere 0.02%, even though Royal Bank of Canada reported a 19% increase in its second-quarter profit.

Shares of Canada’s biggest bank eased 10¢ to $75.90.

Laurentian Bank fell $1.01, or 3.6%, to $26.90 after it reported a lower quarterly profit on weaker results from its retail banking segment.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks posted slight gains in light trading on Friday before the holiday weekend.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 4.95 points, or 0.05%, to end at 10,542.55. The S&P 500 Index gained 1.16 points, or 0.10%, to finish at 1,198.78. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 4.49 points, or 0.22%, to close at 2,075.73.

For the week, the blue-chip Dow average gained 0.67%, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.80% and the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 1.43%.