Toronto equities managed to bounce back from midday losses on Friday, finishing the day with slight gains on strength in commodity stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 40.79 points, or 0.46%, to close at 8,920.4. For the week, the benchmark index shed 1.8%.

Materials companies moved higher by 3.6% as gold futures rallied. Gold for February delivery jumped US$32.60 to end at US$839.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Despite the gains, gold ended the week down 1.8%.

The sub-gold index rose 3.5%.

Barrick Gold Corp.’s shares rose after the company’s new CEO, Aaron Regent, stepped into the position today. The shares finished at $42.70, up 1.5%.

Kinross Gold Corp. shares surged 7.4% to $22.45 and Yamana Gold Inc.’s stock jumped 6.6% to $8.56.

Also higher was Goldcorp Inc., up 4.4% to $32.90 and Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd., up 4.5% to $62.90.

Agrium Inc. shares finished up $2.15, or 5.4%, to $42.06 after it announced late Thursday that it expects to take a US$117-million writedown in the fourth quarter of 2008 due to unprecedented volatility in global markets.

The energy index advanced 0.8% as oil futures rose on Friday. Crude for February delivery rallied US$1.11, or 3.1%, to end at US$36.51 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The front-month contract tumbled 10.6% overall this week.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. saw its stock rise 2% to $48.54 and Petro-Canada rose 1.4% to $29.54.

Shares of Suncor Energy Inc. gained 2.4% to close at $27.48.

The financial sector dipped lower by 1.5% on Friday as two major American banks reported weak fourth quarter results.

Feeling the impact of the news on the TSX was the Bank of Nova Scotia, whose shares fell 2.9% to $30.45 and Royal Bank of Canada, which dipped 1.2% to $33.64.

Sun Life Financial Corp. shares also retreated, finishing the day at $26.16, down 3.3%.

Shares in Onex Corp. slipped after it said it has raised US$3 billion of capital for its private equity fund, Onex Partners III LP, but also warned it has temporarily halved its commitment to the fund due to the uncertain investing environment. Onex shares fell 0.3% to $18.69.

The S&P/TSX Venture index rose by 21.35 points, or 2.5%, to end at 865.65.

The loonie advanced US0.23¢ against the U.S. dollar, to finish the week at US80.13¢.

In New York, news surrounding Citigroup and Bank of America dominated Wall Street.

Citigroup posted a fourth-quarter net loss of US$8.29 billion. The bank also announced it is splitting up into two businesses: one for traditional banking and one to hold the company’s riskier assets.

Citigroup’s stock tumbled 8.6% to US$3.50 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Bank of America posted a loss of US$2.39 billion in the fourth quarter, thanks to escalating credit losses, and the firm slashed its quarterly dividend to a penny. News that the Bush administration reached an agreement to provide it with an additional US$20 billion worth of capital failed to help the company’s stock, which plummeted 13.7% to US$7.18 on Friday.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 68.73 points, or 0.8%, to close at 8,281.22.

The S&P 500 index increased 6.38 points, or 0.75%, to end at 850.12.

The Nasdaq composite index gained 17.49 points, or 1.2%, to end at 1,529.33.

For the week the Dow was down 5.6%, the S&P 500, lost 5.9%, while Nasdaq gave up 3.02%.

U.S. Markets will be closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.

IE