The Toronto stock market ran ahead Friday as traders continued to react enthusiastically to an aggressive stimulus program from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 130.29 points to 12,490.45 while the TSX Venture Exchange was up 5.42 points to 1,308.31.

The Canadian dollar moved off the highs of the morning amid soft manufacturing data while traders took some profits from a sharp runup over the last week. The loonie was off 0.01 of a cent to 103.26 cents US, which is still a 13-month high. It had earlier been up about half a US cent as the American dollar weakened.

The loonie had surged well over 2 1/2 cents over the last week as the European Central Bank announced a plan to purchase government bonds in order to keep eurozone borrowing costs under control and speculation mounted the Fed would act to support a slowing economy.

U.S. indexes were also higher a day after the Fed delivered on those expectations as the central bank said it will spend $40 billion a month on a new round of bond purchases and will continue to do so until the job market shows substantial improvement.

Bullion was off 20 cents to US$1,771.90 an ounce following a jump of almost $40 on Thursday as the Fed program raised inflation concerns. The TSX gold sector gained almost two per cent and Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) climbed 89 cents to $41.21.

Geopolitical worries also drove oil prices higher as a wave of anti-American protests in the Mideast raised supply concerns.

The October crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 88 cents to US$99.19, pushing the energy sector up 1.7 per cent. Suncor Energy improved by 83 cents to $34.01.