Toronto stocks closed modestly higher Friday as investors mulled over May’s weak employment report. The S&P/TSX composite index finished the session up 12.01 points at 7,046.88. For the week, the TSX benchmark advanced 2.7%.

Canada’s jobless rate rose 0.3 percentage points to 7.8% in May, while 13,100 jobs were lost.

Information technology stocks led the gains during the session. The sector rose 1.33 percent, as Canadian software stocks rose on U.S. tech giant Oracle’s offer to buy software firm PeopleSoft for US$5.1 billion.

In Canada, software maker Cognos rose $1.40 to $40.14, Hummingbird climbed $1.05 to $28.55, and Geac Computer advanced 20¢ to finish at C$5.70.

Corel Corp. has agreed to a takeover by Vector Capital Corp. for US$96 million in cash, the companies announced after the end of trading. Corel’s board is recommending shareholders accept the offer.

Fairfax Financial Holdings chairman-CEO Prem Watsa said he plans to buy up to 250,000 of his company’s shares, which he says are undervalued. The company’s stock jumped before slipping $1 to close at $204.

The junior TSX Venture Exchange closed up 7.07 points at 1,100.40.

In New York, blue-chip stocks eked out slight gains on Friday amid renewed hopes for a recovery, but the Nasdaq finished lower on near record volume as investors booked profits from a rally on news of Oracle proposed takeover of software rival PeopleSoft.

A government report showing U.S. payrolls lost only 17,000 jobs in May, sharply below expectations, also helped investors’ sentiment as the data hinted of improving conditions in the weak labor market. The U.S. unemployment rate rose in May to 6.1%, the highest since July 1994, from April’s 6%, but this was in line with Wall Street’s expectations.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 21.49 points to finish at 9,062.79. The S&P 500 fell 2.38 points to 987.76. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index closed down 18.59 points at 1,627.42.

For the week, Dow rose 2.4%, the S&P 500 gained 2.51% and the Nasdaq advanced 1.97%.

The Canadian dollar slumped on the weak Canadian jobs report. The loonie ended the session at US73.71¢, down from US74.39¢ at Thursday’s close.