Toronto stocks closed higher on Friday. The S&P/TSX composite index rose 23.02 points to finish at 7,979.20. For the week, the benchmark slipped 0.1%.

TSX volume was 225 million shares. Momentum was positive as advancers beat decliners 773 to 482.

Strengthening commodity prices helped boost the materials sector 0.73% with Ivanhoe Mines up 52¢, or 5.6%, at $9.70.

Pan American Silver Corp. rose 70¢, or 4%, to $16.70, and Inco Ltd. was up 50¢, or 1%, at $46.45.

The gold index gained 0.56% on firmer bullion prices. Golden Star Resources climbed 42¢ to $9.28, and Kinross Gold added 28¢ to$10.75.

Energy issues gained 0.47%, as natural gas prices jumped. Shares of EnCana rose 47¢ to $49.97.

Shares in Sears Canada plunged $2.54 to $16.26 after the retailer lowered its profit forecast for 2003 because of weaker apparel sales.

Hudson’s Bay Co. shares dropped 80¢ to $11, on profit-taking.

After the close of trading Thursday, two Canadian technology companies learned that they would be among eight companies added to the Nasdaq 100 index.

ATI Technologies and Research in Motion both trade on the Nasdaq already, but membership in the Nasdaq 100 means that their shares will be more in demand.

ATI shares were unchanged at $20.24; RIM shares gained 17¢ to $58.67.

Soft economic data cast a pall over the market Friday. Statistics Canada said the October trade surplus fell to $5.09 billion partly due to the Canadian dollar’s strength against the U.S. dollar. Analysts had forecast, on average, a surplus of $5.5 billion.

The Canadian dollar closed up was up 0.08¢ at US75.94¢.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index jumped 31.11 points, or 1.90%, to close at 1,670.24.

On Wall Street, stocks closed higher despite a worse-than-expected reading on consumer confidence.

U.S. consumer confidence weakened as the holiday shopping season swung into high gear despite the economy’s rebound. The University of Michigan’s measure of consumer sentiment fell to a preliminary 89.6 in December from November’s final reading of 93.7, well below forecasts for a rise to 96.0.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 34 points to 10,042.16, its highest close since May 24, 2002.

The broader S&P 500 index added 2.93 points to 1,074.14, its highest finish since May 28, 2002. The techn-heavy Nasdaq composite Index rose 6.68 points to finish at 1,949.00.

For the week, the Dow rose 1.8% and the S&P 500 gained 1.2%. The Nasdaq ended the week up 0.6%.