TORONTO - Gold futures raced past the US$1,000-mark on Friday and helped the Toronto stock market close another positive session.

The S&P/TSX composite index ended the day ahead 98.23 points at 11,253.23, and the Canadian dollar rose 0.01 of a cent to 92.71 cents U.S.

The TSX gold sector gained 1.2 per cent, as the December bullion contract picked up $9.60 to close at US$1,006.40 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

It was the fourth consecutive week of gains for gold futures.

Nick Barisheff, a gold analyst at Bullion Management Group in Markham, Ont., said the enthusiastic climb for bullion will likely continue.

"If you look at a six-month scenario, you can easily be looking at US$1,200 to $1,300 gold," he said.

"If we have a pullback it's going to be relatively minor and probably reverse course very quickly."

The TSX Venture Exchange rose 12.40 to 1,261.89.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial lost 22.07 points to 9,605.41. The Nasdaq composite index was down 3.12 points to 2,080.90, while the S&P 500 index slid 1.41 points to 1,042.73.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported that even though wholesale inventories fell for a record 11th straight month in July, sales rose by the largest amount in more than a year. The rising sales could lead businesses to start adding back to inventories, which would be a good signal for the economy.

Wholesale inventories fell 1.4 per cent, more than the one per cent drop economists expected, however wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent, the fourth straight monthly increase.

In Toronto, energy stocks were lifted 2.6 per cent after oilpatch giant EnCana Corp. (TSX:ECA) announced it is reviving plans to split into two distinct oil and gas companies now that some optimism appears to be returning to the global economy. EnCana shares were up $7.04 to $63.52.

The October crude contract on the Nymex closed down $2.65 to US$69.29 a barrel, as worries about weaker demand re-emerged after U.S. government data was released on Thursday.

In other corporate developments, Compton Petroleum Corporation (TSX:CMT), a Calgary-based natural gas producer, saw its shares plummet 20 per cent after it struck a bought deal financing to issue 120 million new shares and warrants at $1.25 each to raise $150 million. The company calls the move the first major step in Compton's restructuring, and its shares lost 31 cents to $1.21.

Xceed Mortgage Corp. (TSX:XMC) shares popped more than 10 per cent after the company, a specialist in lending to home buyers who don't qualify for loans from Canada's big financial institutions, said it would move forward with plans to become a deposit-taking bank. Shares were up 18 cents to $1.87.

Empire Company Ltd. (TSX:EMP.A) posted a higher $89.7 million first-quarter profit to $89.7 million, which was primarily driven by a strong summer quarter at its Sobeys grocery division. Stock in the company rose $1.04 to $42.79.

Agribusiness giant Viterra Inc. (TSX:VT) shares were up 25 cents to $9.86 after it said third-quarter profits were down to $120.7 million from a year-earlier $166.7 million on weaker demand for fertilizer. Revenues were flat at $2.2 billion.

Shares of Harry Winston Diamond Corp. (TSX:HW) slipped two per cent after the company said a new operating plan for the Diavik diamond mine in Canada's Far North would see a winter shutdown cancelled and delivery ramped up in 2010. Stock was down 17 cents top $8.10.