Toronto stocks eked out a small gain Thursday as traders waited for the much-anticipated October jobs reports for Canada and the United States coming on Friday. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 3.19 points at 7,870.87.

Technology shares gained 1.75%, fueled by strong earnings from Cisco Systems.

Nortel Networks gained 12¢ to close at $5.90, while Celestica rose $1.19 to $20.50.

Tundra Semiconductor gained $2.90 to close at $25.80 after it revised its second-quarter forecasts higher.

Gold stocks fell 1.47% on weaker bullion prices, with mid-tier gold miners taking the biggest hit.

Eldorado Gold lost 28¢ to close at $4, and Wheaton River shed 19¢ to finish at $2.77.

Kinross Gold shares fell 49¢ to $10.02, after reporting late on Wednesday that it lost money from operations in the third quarter.

TSX volume was 337 million shares, and market momentum was positive with advancers topping decliners 640 to 580.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index inched up half a point to 1,609.25.

In New York, technology shares closed at their highest level in almost 22 months after the strong Cisco earnings report.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index climbed 17 points to 1,976.37, closing at its highest level since Jan. 17, 2002.

Other gains were modest ahead of Friday’s employment report. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average rose 36.14 points to 9,856.97. The S&P 500 added 6.24 points to 1,058.05.