Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index has ran ahead 168.22 points to 8,961.55, while the Dow Jones industrials slipped back 25.41 points to 8,448.56.

The TSX Venture Exchange was off 9.45 points to 868.9.

The losses piled up for the CAD as a stronger greenback helped pull the loonie down 0.63 of a cent to 81.65 cents (US).

On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that the Canada’s trade balance with the world fell to CAD1.3 billion in November 2008, from a revised $2.3 billion in October 2008 as both exports and imports declined.

More than two-thirds of the drop in exports and almost all the decrease in imports were due to energy products, as crude petroleum prices continued to fall.

The Nasdaq composite index was up 7.67 points to 1,546.46 while the S&P 500 rose 1.53 points to 871.79 after the US trade deficit plunged to $40.4 billion (U.S.) in November 2008, the lowest level in five years, as a deepening recession slashed demand for oil by a record amount. Imports from China also fell by the largest amount on record.

The TSX energy sector was up 2.7 per cent, down from early levels after the February crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange inched ahead 19 cents to $37.78.

The crude had increased to almost $40 earlier in the session after Saudi Arabia said that it would cut oil output by about 300,000 barrels per day below its recently agreed OPEC quota.

EnCana Corp. increased CAD1.22 to $56.08, while Suncor Energy Inc. added 92 cents to $27.48.

The gold sector increased by 4% as the February bullion contract in New York slipped 30 cents (US) to $820.70. The telecom sector was also higher, up 1.5% with Telus Corp. ahead $1.14 to $35.86.

That was the case even as Ottawa-based telecom manufacturer Wi-Lan Inc. reported a fiscal 2008 loss of CAD9.2 million.

The company’s shares were reduced by nine cents to $1.60 after it said its fourth quarter earnings slipped to $277,000, from year-earlier profits of $1.2 million

CAE Inc. shares increased by 33 cents to $7.95 after it said it has won a $60 million contract to build five flight simulators and provide associated training devices.