Toronto stocks managed to eke out a slight gain on Friday with financial shares joining a rally in energy stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up just 5.6 points, or 0.05%, at 11,005.24, following a 175-point gain on Thursday.

Statistics Canada reported that the jobless rate fell to 6.4% in November from 6.6% in October, aided by strong job creation in the construction sector.

Seven of the 10 TSX groups retreated, led by the technology sector, down 0.95%, and the industrials sector, down 0.88%.

U.S. crude oil futures ended 85¢ higher at US$59.32 a barrel as cold weather closed in on the U.S. Northeast, pushing up demand for heating oil and boosting shares of Canadian oil and and gas producers.

Canadian Natural Resources rose 93¢, or 1.71%, to $55.43.

The financial services sector also closed on the plus side, gaining 0.37%.

CIBC added 70¢, or 0.93%, to $75.90.

BCE Inc. is selling off a huge chunk of its media division – Bell Globemedia – to Torstar Corp. and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

Once the proposed deal is done, BCE’s stake in the media company will have dropped from 68.5% to just 20%.

Shares of BCE and Torstar both lost ground in the wake of the announcement. BCE was off 37¢ at $27.90, while Torstar was off 17ç at $22.32.

U.S. billionaire financier Carl Icahn launched a bid for majority control of Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, but Fairmont said it would oppose it.

Fairmont shares were up $1.83 to close at $47.05.

The TSX Venture composite finished up 16.51 points, or 0.80%, at 2,088.90.

The Canadian dollar closed at US86.02¢, up 0.15 of a cent, on the positive jobs report.

U.S. technology shares rose on Friday, sending the Nasdaq Composite index to its 7th straight week of gains as investors bought semiconductor shares.

A government report showed robust U.S. job growth in November, slightly above market expectations, but the report also revived concerns that too much growth could prompt the Federal Reserve to continue raising interest rates to keep inflation in check.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished down 35.06 points, or 0.32%, at 10,877.51. The S&P 500 was up 0.41 point, or 0.03%, at 1,265.08. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index was up 6.20 points, or 0.27%, at 2,273.37.

For the week, the Dow ended down 0.5%, the S&P ended off 0.25% and Nasdaq closed up 0.46%.