Toronto stocks are flat in light trading Friday. At midday, the S&P/TSX composite index is off 0.44 of a point at 7,880.06.

Losses in the tech and financial sectors are being balanced by gains in gold stocks. Techs are off 0.72%, while financials are down 0.25%.

The TSX gold index is up 1.44% as bullion prices hit US$396.80 an ounce in New York, as the U.S. dollar weakened. The Canadian dollar hit a 10-year high against the greenback on Friday morning.

Placer Dome has gained 47 to $23.40 while Meridian Gold has added 37¢ to $19.13.

In the tech sector, Creo is off 38¢ to $13.65, and Celestica shares are down 36¢ to $19.58.

The market was also digesting Canadian gross domestic product data released this morning. Canada’s economy grew by an annual rate of 1.1% in the third quarter, less than half the growth rate economists had been expecting.

In other economic news, federal Finance Minister John Manley announced that he will be leaving politics. Manley intends to leave cabinet on December 12.

Public Works minister Ralph Goodale’s name is being mentioned frequently as a leading candidate.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index is up 6.03 points at 1,674.40.

U.S. stocks edged up in light trading on Friday, as investors look ahead to more economic data next week that will likely show the U.S. economic recovery is accelerating.

Next week, the government will release November jobless data as well as reports on construction spending, productivity and factory orders. The Institute for Supply Management will also issue its indexes on manufacturing and service sector activity.

The day after the Thanksgiving holiday is historically one of the slowest days of the year.

The New York Stock Exchange will close early Friday at 13:00, and the Bond Market Association (said it was recommending U.S. bond markets close at 14:00 ET.

In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average ticked up 19.63 points to 9,799.20. The S&P 500 rose 1.44 points to 1,059.89. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index edged up 7.72 points to 1,961.03.