The Canadian economy edged up 0.2% in October following a surge of 1.1% in September.

Statistics Canada says improved consumer confidence was responsible for much of the increase in gross domestic product in October. Continuing strong consumer demand and a hot housing market translated into higher activity levels for a number of industries.

StatsCan says retailers and wholesalers alike benefited from increased customer traffic. New home builders and real estate agents and brokers profited from the continuing housing boom. Increased consumer spending on travel-related services boosted the industries in the travel and tourism sector.

In a separate release, StatsCan says wholesale sales remained essentially unchanged in October (-0.1%), when wholesalers sold $36.6 billion worth of goods and services. This followed a strong 6.4% rebound in wholesale sales in September. August had been particularly weak because of the power blackout in Ontario.

Only 4 of the 11 wholesale trade sectors reported an increase in sales in October, with the largest gains registered by the computer and electronic equipment sector (+3.4%) and the “other products” category (+1.7%). Lumber and building materials (-3.7%) and industrial machinery (-1.0%) reported the largest declines.

South of the border, U.S. GDP growth held at an 8.2% annual rate for the third quarter amid stronger consumer spending during the quarter than previously thought, the U.S. Commerce Department reports.

Separately, consumer spending rose at a 6.9% annual rate during the quarter, higher than the previous estimate of 6.4%. Income climbed 0.5%.

Wall Street futures are pointing to a slightly negative start to North American trading while European indexes were narrowly mixed

Asian stock markets closed mostly higher, but prices slipped in Hong Kong and Singapore, while Japan’s financial markets were closed for the Emperor’s birthday, a national holiday.

In Hong Kong, the main Hang Seng Index fell 67.48 points, or 0.54%, to 12,420.51.

In early action, London’s FTSE is off 0.04%, Frankfurt’s DAX has gained 0.82% and Paris’s CAC 40 is up 0.18%.

Toronto stocks posted modest gains in relatively light trading Monday, kicking off the holiday-shortened week. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 21.61 points at 8,135.43.

Traders showed resilience after the U.S. security alert was raised to orange, the second-highest level, on Sunday.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 59.78 points to 10,338.00, its highest close since May 17, 2002. The S&P 500 Index added 4.27 points to 1,092.94, its highest finish since May 23, 2002.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index shrugged off earlier losses and gained 4.78 points, or 0.25%, to 1,955.80.

After the bell Monday, Research In Motion Ltd. said it earned a solid profit in its third quarter and handily beat its forecast. The company said it earned US$16.3 million or US20¢ per share in the three months ended Nov. 30.

Before the earnings release, RIM shares closed at $61.42, up by $1.38 on the day.

Bay Street will close early Wednesday and remain closed through the weekend in observance of the Christmas and Boxing Day holidays. Wall Street will also close early on Wednesday, Christmas Eve, but reopen for another abbreviated session on Friday.