Toronto's main market was higher Friday afternoon, as investors were optimistic about progress regarding Europe's debt crisis, and as they welcomed positive economic data from Canada's southern neighbour. The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 89.80 points, or 0.75% before 1:00pm EDT to 12,001.69, while the more junior S&P/TSX Venture Composite rose 13.90 points, or 0.91%, to 1,546.53. Commodities improved, which helped Toronto's TSX that is heavily weighted towards resources. Investors were hopeful as finance ministers from the Group of 20 started a two-day meeting today in Paris, with the European debt crisis at the top of the agenda. Overnight, Standard & Poor's downgraded Spain's credit rating again, citing weak growth and risks in the banking sector. Crude oil futures rose over 3% higher, or $2.55, to $86.78 per barrel, while gold futures for December climbed 0.47%, or $7.9, to $1,676.40 an ounce. The silver contract for December also edged up to $31.93 an ounce, while base metal copper futures gained more than 3% to $3.41 per pound. Metals and mining stocks gained the most in Toronto, rising over 2.8%, while energy stocks followed with an over 2.4% lift. Suncor Energy (TSE:SU) saw its shares increase around 4.3%, while Talisman Energy (TSE:TLM) gained a more modest 2.4%. Connacher Oil & Gas (TSE:CLL) moved higher by roughly 3.8%, while Canadian Natural Resources (TSE:CNQ) rose 3.3%. In the mining sector, Cline Mining (TSE:CMK) advanced nearly 9%, as did Champion Minerals (TSE:CHM). Copper-focused Teck Resources (TSE:TCK.B) edged up 1.7%, while Lundin Mining (TSE:LUN) was up 3.4% in the early afternoon. Mercator Minerals (TSE:ML) moved up by 4.5%. In corporate news on the day, oil and gas giant Encana (TSE: ECA) reported Friday that it has struck a $230 million deal with Pembina Pipeline Corp. (TSE:PPL) to triple its extraction capacity at the Resthaven processing plant, located in the Alberta deep basin. The Resthaven area, situated in west central Alberta, is known for its prolific liquids-rich natural gas supply. The pipeline operator and gas producer said the plant capacity increase, the first of a two-phase expansion, should be online in late 2013. Shares of Encana gained over 1% to $21.02 in Toronto. Vancouver-based Quadra FNX (TSE:QUX) said on Friday that consolidated payable production climbed 9 percent in the third-quarter sequentially, but expects full year production to come in at the low end of its prior forecast range due to slope stability issues. Meanwhile, on Toronto's junior exchange, PMI Gold (CVE:PMV) (ASX:PVM) announced Friday that it has more than tripled the gold resource at its flagship Obotan project in Ghana, West Africa, after completing an interim resource upgrade, paving the way for a pre-feasibility study on a substantial gold mine development by the end of the year. Investors cheered the news, with shares of the junior resource company flying over 67% to trade at 97 cents as of 11:31am EDT. US/Europe Stocks rallied in the US Friday but lost some ground midday, with the Dow up 0.76% in early afternoon trading, as investors were bolstered by September retail sales data and stellar results from Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), but a decline in October consumer sentiment later in the morning weighed. On the economic front, September retail sales rose 1.1% from a month earlier - the fastest pace in seven months, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Economists forecast retail sales would rise 0.7% in September, after a revised upward growth of 0.3% in August. Sales last month were boosted by strong auto purchases. According to data released by The University of Michigan, the preliminary sentiment reading for October was 57.5, compared with 59.4 in September. Economists were expecting a slight rise, to 59.7, with volatility in the stock market offsetting lower gas prices. Meanwhile, Google reported third quarter net income of $2.73 billion, or $8.33 per share, compared to $2.17 billion, or $6.72 per share, a year ago. Adjusted for employee stock compensation expenses, earnings came in at $9.72 per share, well above the $8.77 per share analysts expected. Revenues of the online search giant climbed 33% during the three months ending September 30, to $9.72 billion. After subtracting the commissions that Google pays its advertising partners, sales stood at $7.5 billion, about $200 million higher than analyst projections. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was also front and centre Friday as the iPhone 4S makes its debut in stores around the world today, with shares rising over 2%. In Europe, markets ended the day in the green, with the FTSE 100 in London closing higher by 1.17% and the DAX in Frankfurt ending the day up by 0.89%. Thursday, Slovakia became the last of the 17 eurozone member nations to ratify the enhanced European bailout fund.

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