Toronto stocks closed flat on Friday, as strength in the gold and energy sectors largely offset declines in tech and telecom stocks.

The Toronto Stock Exchange S&P/TSE composite index finished down 6.64 points at 7,663.85.

Gold stocks were once again a safe haven. Golds rose 2.54%, as the price of bullion rose past US$313, benefiting from weakness in the U.S. dollar.

Placer Dome Inc. rose 45¢ to $19.45, while Meridian Gold advanced $1.07 to $25.76. Barrick Gold closed up 16¢ at $32.95.

Half of the TSX sub-indexes were higher on Friday, but telecoms declined 2.35% amid continued uncertainty.

BCE fell 88¢ to $26.00, while Telus Corp. slipped 34¢ to $14.21.

There was also weakness in financial stocks. CIBC fell $1.45 to $52.25 after reporting it will set aside $390 million for its just-completed quarter to cover bad loans.

Bombardier climbed 35 cents to $14.25 after workers at its aerospace operations in the Montreal area accepted a new contract.

Quebecor Inc. gained seven cents to $22.97 after it earned $23.4 million in the first quarter, compared with a loss of $28 million a year earlier.

Enbridge hit a 52-week high of $46.76, up 68 cents, after its profit rose 35% in the first quarter to $113.1 million.

Toronto volume was 181.6 million shares, as decliners narrowly beat advancers 548 to 540 with 214 unchanged.

The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 9.77 to 1,164.36.

In New York, The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 85.24 points at 10,006.63. The tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 31.59 points to 1,613.23. The S&P 500 index lost 11.13 points to 1,073.34.

Markets had been hoping the U.S. jobless report would provide evidence of a strengthening recovery, and investors viewed the increase of three-tenths of a point as an indication that the upturn is stalling.

The Canadian dollar gained US0.01¢ to US63.98¢.