Toronto stocks ended higher Friday, as the markets absorbed higher U.S. GDP numbers and news that Canada’s oldest retailer head received a $1 billion bid.

The S&P/TSX composite index finished up 66.85, or 0.65%, to 10,312.30.

For the week, the benchmark index gained 21.43 points.

Volume on the senior exchange was 215 million shares.

Eight of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were up, with the energy sector gaining 1.31%.

Crude oil futures closed up 13¢ at US$61.22 a barrel.

EnCana Corp. announced it is selling its natural gas liquids business for $697 million to Provident Energy Trust. Its shares added 15¢, or 0.28, to finish $53.88.

The gold sector ran up 1.69%

Barrick Gold Corp. reported earnings of US$113 million US in the third quarter, up more than 250% from the same period last year. Its shares gained 88¢, or 3.34%, to $27.20.

The consumer discretionary group was up 1.33%

U.S. businessman Jerry Zucker, the largest shareholder of Hudson’s Bay Co., made a $1-billion offer for the retail giant. Its shares surged ahead $2.72, or 21.54%, to $15.35.

Among individual stocks, Rothmans Inc. advanced 87¢ to $23.72 after it said its second-quarter profit rose to $30.1 million from a year-earlier $26.4 million.

Also, Quebecor World shares gained 56¢ to $17.80 after landing a $500 million multi-year printing deal from Time Inc.

Bombardier fell 15¢ to $2.50 after announcing it is temporarily suspending production of its CRJ200 regional aircraft to deal with a market slump.

Statistics Canada reported that raw material prices fell by 0.3% in September after rising by 4.5% in August.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.43 of a cent at US84.90¢.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished up 3.96, or 0.20%, to 1,996.53.

In New York, strong economic news and strong corporate results from Microsoft. U.S. gross domestic product increased 3.8% in the third quarter, above analysts’ expectations.

The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 172.82 points, or 1.7%, to 10,402.77. The Nasdaq composite gained 26.07 points, or 1.3%, to 2,089.88 and the S&P 500 rose 19.51 points, or 1.7%, to 1,198.41.