The Toronto stock market was slightly higher shortly after the opening bell Wednesday as signs of strong Canadian economic growth to start the year ran up against a negative private-sector employment report from the United States. The S&P/TSX composite index edged up 14.49 points to 12,044.21, after gaining 14.49 points on Tuesday. Statistics Canada reported real GDP advanced 0.6 per cent in January, its fifth straight monthly increase and based largely on the strength of manufacturing and construction. That was slightly ahead of the bullish estimate of a 0.5 per cent increase from December, or six per cent annualized, that economists had expected. The Canadian dollar, which has been hovering just below parity with the American currency, was ahead 0.43 of a cent to 98.52 cents US early Wednesday. A separate report from Statistics Canada showed that total hours worked by payroll employees increased by 0.3 per cent in January while non-farm payroll employment was virtually unchanged. On the TSX, the gold sector led gains, 1.1 per cent higher, as the May gold contract increased $12.10 to $1116.60 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Energy stocks lifted 0.6 per cent with the May crude contract on the NYSE was ahead $1.13 to US$83.50 a barrel. The information technology sector backed off 0.5 per cent ahead of earnings from BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (TSX:RIM) scheduled after the closing bell. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average dipped 51 points to 10,856. The Nasdaq composite index lost nine points to 2,402 while the S&P 500 index edged down six points to 1,167. In the U.S., payroll company ADP says employers slashed 23,000 jobs in March, compared to economists predictions which had forecast companies would add 40,000 jobs during the month. In corporate news, Mega Brands Inc. (TSX:MB) says an uptick in fourth-quarter sales allowed it to drastically trim losses to US$22.1 million or 60 cents per share in the period, narrowing losses sharply from year-earlier levels of $323.3 million or $8.83 per share. Premium Brands Holdings Corporation (TSX:PBH) is acquiring an 80 per cent interest in Duso’s Enterprises Ltd., a Vancouver-based maker of fresh pastas and sauces, from the founders in a $5.6-million cash, stock and debt transaction. The payment consists of $4 million in cash, 69,252 shares of Premium Brands and a $600,000 note that’s due in three years. Shares rose seven cents to $14.60. Wallbridge Mining Company Ltd. (TSX:WM) says it will spin off all its copper, gold and molybdenum properties in British Columbia to a new independent company called Miocene Metals Ltd. Based in Lively, Ont., Wallbridge’s primary focus will be the exploration for nickel, and copper and platinum group deposits in the Sudbury area of Ontario. A subsidiary of CVTech Group Inc. (TSX:CVT) has received a two-year contract from Hydro-Quebec, worth $21 million, to install poles and anchors for electrical distribution lines throughout the province. Share rose 10 cents to $1.37. Inmet Mining Corp. (TSX:IMN) has arranged a $500-million equity financing through Ellington Investments Pte. Ltd., a subsidiary of a Singapore-based investment company with holdings in Asia and Latin America. Shares rose 88 cents to $56.38. Clothing maker Gildan Activewear Inc. (TSX:GIL) has bought a T-shirt factory Shahriyar Fabric Industries Ltd. near Dhaka, Bangladesh for US$15 million, and its shares rose 13 cents to $27.08. On Tuesday, Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. announced plans to raise $1.35 billion in its initial public offering of 75 million shares at a price of $18 per share. The company will begin trading as early as next week. Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average closed down 0.1 per cent. Britain’s FTSE 100 slid 0.3 per cent, Germany’s DAX index lost 0.3 per cent, and France’s CAC-40 fell 0.7 per cent.

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