TORONTO - The Toronto stock market ended the week flat as investors weighed weak oil prices with good news out of the base metals sector.

The S&P/TSX composite index inched up 37.19 points to 10,283.10 Friday, led by news that mining giant Teck Resources Ltd. (TSX:TCK.B) has sold a 17.5 per cent stake in the company to lighten its debt load.

Despite the small gain Friday, the index posted a one per cent loss for the week.

Trading volume on the Toronto Stock Exchange was light Friday as U.S. markets were closed in observance of the Independence Day holiday.

The New York Mercantile Exchange was also closed for the holiday, but oil prices fell for the sixth day in a row in electronic trading, losing US$1.10 to $65.63 and weighing down the small gain on the TSX.

The loonie gained 0.04 of a cent to 86.08 cents US.

The TSX base metals sector was the biggest gainer, adding 2.6 per cent. Teck was up $1.49 or 8.1 per cent to $19.99 after the cash-strapped mining giant said it had completed a $1.74-billion private placement.

China Investment Corp. will buy 101.3 million of Teck's class B voting shares for $17.21 each. Teck said the proceeds will go towards paying down nearly US$10 billion in bank debt it took on after the $14-billion purchase of Fording Canadian Coal Trust last year.

Adrian Mastracci, portfolio manager with KCM Wealth Management in Vancouver, said that with markets closed in the United States, Teck's good news was enough to boost the TSX on a slow trading day.

"We are missing direction from the U.S. markets being closed, and I think that weighs on Toronto a lot because we do get a fair bit of direction from down south," Mastracci said in an interview.

"It's not surprising that you get a good piece of news like Teck and it lifts everybody up. It's like the tide coming in."

Teck was one of the best performing stocks on the TSX in the second quarter and has surged more than 180 per cent since March 31.

On Friday, the energy sector slipped 0.7 per cent after losing 1.4 per cent Thursday. Encana Corp. (TSX:ECA) was down 61 cents to $55.35 while Petro-Canada (TSX:PCA) lost 40 cents to $41.58.

The gold sector was flat as bullion added US$1.50 to $932.50 an ounce in electronic trading Friday. Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) rose six cents to $39.71.

Financial stocks added 0.8 per cent. Toronto-Dominion (TSX:TD) was the biggest gainer, moving up 86 cents to $59.49, while Royal Bank of Canada (TSX:RY) added 52 cents to $47.99.

The TSX Venture Exchange edged up 0.38 points to 1,092.96.

Disappointing jobs data out of the U.S. sent all three major U.S. indexes tumbling by more than two per cent on Thursday.

The data -- which showed American employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June, driving the U.S. unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.5 per cent -- also sent oil down by 3.7 per cent. The unemployment rate is seen as a key barometer in the U.S. economic recovery and far exceeded the consensus expectation of 365,000 jobs lost.

Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Friday he now expects Canada's economic recovery will be modest and job losses will continue into 2010 even after growth begins again.

Economists expect an additional 30,000 job losses will be logged for June when Statistics Canada releases the latest data next Friday. Canada has lost 363,000 jobs since last October.