Toronto stocks finished in the black Friday, powered once again by a strong energy sector, but ultimately weighed down by a significant drop in the price of telecom giant Nortel Networks. The S&P/TSX composite index rose 26.65 points, or 0.27%, to finish at 9,790.09.

Volume for the session was 227 millions shares.

On the week, the index gained 1.23%.

Half of the 10 TSX main groups were up on the day, including energy, which rose 1.43%.

Energy stocks climbed even as the price of July crude oil futures fell 1.4%, or 74¢, to close at US$53.54 a barrel. On the TSX, EnCana advanced $1.07, or 2.22%, to finish at $40.20.

The materials group advanced. 1.79%.

In the information technology group, Nortel Networks shares plunged 9.01%, or 32¢, to close at $3.23 on heavy volume of 37.3 million shares.

Before markets opened, the company announced the resignation of Gary Daichendt as president and CEO after just three months on the job. Daichendt, who is being accompanied out the door by chief technology office Gary Kunis, reportedly held divergent views from CEO Bill Owens.

The junior S&P/TSX venture exchange closed up 5.51 points, or 0.33%, to finish 1,664.76.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 9.61, or 0.09%, to finish at 10,512.63. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 13.91, or 0.67%, to 2,063.00, while the broad based S&P 500 fell 2.82, or 0.23%, to close at 1,198.11.

The U.S. trade deficit rose 12% in April to $56.96 billion US, reflecting a surge in oil imports. On the positive side, the deficit came in about $1 billion US short of expectations.

Also Intel Corp. lifted its second-quarter revenue forecast Thursday on better-than-expected demand for power notebook computer chips. Despite the news, Intel fell 72¢, or 2.6%, to 26.98 U.S.

For the week, the Dow edged up 0.50%, the S&P rose 0.18% and Nasdaq dipped 0.41%.