Toronto stocks closed flat on Friday as acquisition activity among gold miners failed to inspire a market cautious ahead of the US holiday weekend and key labour reports due out next week.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's key S&P/TSX composite index closed up 3.48 points at 8,347.08 on Friday.
Volume was 257 million shares worth C$3 billion.
On the week the index gained 1.66 percent.
"I'm surprised that the gold acquisition bids didn't spark more activity. There's still a cautious sentiment," said Bryan Snelson, investment advisor with CIBC Wood Gundy.
"There's a lot of investors who are unwilling to stick their necks out in advance of key economic reports and OPEC."
US and Canadian labour reports for May are due out on Friday and OPEC meets next week to discuss suspending its output quotas.
New bidders for gold miners Iamgold and Wheaton River, which were set to merge, announced themselves late on Thursday. But the materials group, which includes golds, lost 0.17 percent.
Major gold producer Barrick Gold Corp was down 34 Canadian cents, or 1 percent, at C$28.16, and Placer Dome Inc fell 13 Canadian cents, or 0.6 percent, to C$21.26.
However, Iamgold rose 29 Canadian cents, or 3.9 percent, to C$7.76, while Wheaton River closed unchanged at C$3.96.
The industrials group slumped 1.82 percent with Bombardier off 42 Canadian cents, or 8 percent, at C$4.57.
Telecoms lost 0.32 percent and energy issues slipped 0.14 percent.
Two of the TSX index's 10 groups were higher, with techs up 0.94 percent.
Shares of Research In Motion rose C$2.89, or 3.6 percent, to C$81.77, and Open Text Corp climbed C$1.55, or 4 percent, to C$38.55.
"The tech sector bore the brunt of the recent selloff so the valuations have gone down to levels where they look attractive," said Elvis Picardo, research analyst and chief market strategist at Global Securities Corp.
"A few of the companies have demonstrated earnings growth and the more aggressive investors are taking a long-term view and doing some buying."
Financials gained 0.59 percent with Toronto-Dominion Bank up C$1.14, or 2.5 percent, at C$45.75, and Bank of Montreal up 93 Canadian cents, or 1.7 percent, at C$53.37.
The blue-chip S&P/TSX index finished down 0.32 points, or 0.7 percent, at 459.80 on Friday.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 16.75 points, or 0.16 percent, to 10,188.45, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 2.24 points, or 0.11 percent, to 1,986.74. US markets will be closed on Monday for Memorial Day.
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