Toronto stocks closed higher Friday lifted by a stronger energy sector, mitigating some of the losses of the previous three sessions.

The S&P/TSX composite index finished up 49.92, or 0.47%, to 10,612.15. The benchmark index ended the week down 399 points, or 3.6%.

Volume on the senior exchange was 239 million shares.

The December crude oil contract finished up 48¢ at US$61.84 a barrel, though it was down 5% for the week.

The energy group bounced up 2.17%

Among the most widely traded shares in the sector were EnCana Corp., which gained $1.14, or 1.96%, to $59.34, and Ultra Petroleum Corp., which gained $2.84, or 5.73%, to $52.39.

Financials were down 0.60%. Manulife Financial Corp. fell 60¢, or 0.97%, to $61.00.

The December gold contract was up $2.70 at US$477.70 an ounce, up over $5 for the week, its highest closing in nearly 18 years.

The TSX gold sub-group climbed 2.53%

Barrick Gold Corp. finished 70¢ higher, an increase of 2.51%, to close $28.60.

The consumer discretionary index was off 0.19%.

Retailer Hudson’s Bay Co. said it is considering selling its credit-card business. Shares rose 53¢, or 4.14%, to $13.33.

Zarlink Semiconductor Inc. sold a British subsidiary that makes components for digital televisions to Intel Corp. for US$70 million. Zarlink shares gained 33¢, or 21.71%, to $1.85.

The tech sector lost 1.29% with Research In Motion Ltd. off $3.20, or 4% at $75.95. A U.S. court refused to reconsider a ruling that upheld patent infringement charges against RIM.

The Canadian unemployment rate fell to 6.7% in September, a drop of 0.1%.

The Canadian dollar closed up 0.48 of a cent at US85.08¢.

The junior S&P/TSX venture exchange finished up 37.09 points, or 1.78%, to 2,117.97.

In New York, positive economic news offset an uptick in the price of oil.

The U.S. economy lost 35,000 jobs in September, a much lower figure than the 170,000 job losses economists had expected in the wake of hurricane Katrina.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 5.21 points, or 0.05%, to 10,292.31, the S&P500 index was up 4.41, or 0.37%, at 1,195.90, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 6.27, or 0.3%, to 2,090.35.

On the week, the Dow fell 2.6%, the Nasdaq dropped 2.9%, and the S&P 500 slid 2.7%.