A surge in materials stocks sent the Toronto Stock Exchange higher on Friday, helping the benchmark index incur another consecutive week of gains.

The S&P/TSX composite index surged 139.98 points, or 1.5%, to close 9,549.48. The benchmark index gained 1% for the week.

The materials group jumped 4.3% as gold futures edged higher. Gold for June delivery gained US$7.50, or 0.8%, to end at US$914.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It ended the week up 5.3%, the first weekly gain since the week ended March 27.

The sub-gold index soared 4.4%.

Barrick Gold Corp. jumped 4.1% to $37.46 and Goldcorp Inc. rose $1.37, or 4%, to $36.00.

Shares of First Quantum Minerals Ltd. surged 12.6% after Genuity Capital Markets upgraded the company’s stock to “buy” from “hold.” Its shares gained $4.85 to $43.47.

Kinross Gold Corp. rose 4.1% to $19.51 and Iamgold Corp. advanced 7% to $10.46.

Meanwhile, crude for June delivery gained US$1.93, or 3.9%, to US$51.55 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, oil futures gained 2.4%.

The boost sent the energy group higher by 1% during Friday’s trading.

Suncor Energy Inc. rose 1.6% to $30.80 and Nexen Inc. added 3.4% to $24.06.

Lower for the day was EnCana Corp., down 1.1% to $55.28, and Husky Energy Inc., lower by 1.5% to $29.90.

Financial stocks added 1.4% on Friday.

Manulife Financial Corp. rose 5.4% to $20.69 and Sun Life Financial Corp. gained 2.4% to $28.67.

Shares of Power Financial Corp. added 3.6% to $23.99.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 18.87 points, or 1.9%, to close at 1,006.81.

The loonie rose by nearly a cent to finish at US82.67¢.

Stocks south of the border also enjoyed gains on Friday even after the Federal Reserve released a report unveiling a more pessimistic outlook for the U.S. economy next year.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 119.23 points, or 1.5%, to 8,076.29. For the week, the blue-chip index dipped 0.7%.

The S&P 500 index rose 14.29 points, or 1.7%, to 866.22, a weekly slip of 0.4%.

The Nasdaq composite index added 42.08 points, or 2.6%, to end at 1,694.29, up 1.3% for the week.

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