TSX TAKES SMALL GAIN AS RIM MOVES HIGHER

The Toronto stock market eked out a mild gain Friday as shares of BlackBerry- maker

Research In Motion Ltd. rose ahead of its planned new smartphone launch.

The S& P/ TSX composite index moved up 2.44 points to 12,602.18 while the TSX Venture Exchange inched ahead 0.17 of a point to 1,240.25.

The Canadian dollar rose US0.01¢ to US101.58¢ after Statistics Canada reported that the country’s trade deficit with the world jumped to $ 2- billion in November.

Meanwhile, information technology stocks provided major lift in the market, up 3.8%, as RIM shares led the sector. The company’s stock rose 13% to $ 13.31 on heavy volume of more than 12.4 million shares.

RIM shares have been on a volatile ride in recent months as investors await the launch of the BlackBerry 10 operating system and devices on Jan. 30.

On Friday, promotional materials for the new BlackBerrys leaked onto some technology blogs, a day after the top three U. S. cellphone carriers each announced they would support the new devices.

But an analyst at BMO Capital Markets lowered his price target for RIM stock to US$ 9 from $ 12 on Thursday, based on revised earnings estimates for the coming year and 2014 following a visit to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Financial stocks fell 0.1% as weakness in the U. S. sector spread to the Canadian market.

Wells Fargo & Co., the biggest mortgage lender in the United States, earned a record US$ 4.9- billion in the fourth quarter, up 25% from the same period a year before. But investors worried that the results showed signs that its giant mortgage business was losing momentum.

Great- West Lifeco Inc. shares lost 13¢ to $ 24.67.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrials gained 17.21 points to 13,488.43 while the Nasdaq was 3.88 points higher at 3,125.64.

The S& P 500 index gave back 0.07 of a point to 1,472.05, pulling away from the five- year high it reached on Thursday.

The Commerce Department said the U. S. trade gap widened 15.8% in November to its widest point in seven months. The deficit grew to $ 48.7- billion.

In commodities, oil prices fell after China’s inflation rose to levels that could affect the country’s growth. February crude was down US26¢ to US$ 93.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

European countries are also facing their own uphill battle to restore economic growth. The economies of the 17 European Union countries that use the euro are in recession and unemployment is soaring across the region.