A 15% jump in shares of Research In Motion helped breath life into the Toronto stock market Wednesday morning, while U.S. stocks fell on interest-rate jitters.

Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index was 4.88 points or 0.06% higher at 8503.40, while the junior TSX Venture Exchange rose 2.73 points or 0.18% to 1556.65.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrials lost early momentum and were down 25.81 points 0.25% at 10387.62 by midday. The Nasdaq was off 0.71 of a point or 0.03% at 2034.22, while the S&P 500 index was down 1.66 points or 0.15% at 1134.54.

The Canadian dollar was up 0.08 of a cent to US74.45¢ after Statistics Canada said the economy advanced 0.1% in April. Economists had expected a 0.4% rise. April’s advance in gross domestic product followed a strong 0.8% gain in March.

On Bay Street, RIM was up $11.73 to $91.73 after the maker of the BlackBerry digital device announced late Tuesday it turned around last year’s quarterly loss with a profit of US$55 million and said it expected to increase profits for the next two quarters.

Fuelled by RIM, the S&P/TSX technology index was ahead by more than 4%. But offsetting that was the financials sub-sector, which fell 0.7%, with all the Big Banks trading down. Investors may have been put off by the election of a minority government and the likelihood bank mergers are not going to happen any time soon.

New York markets lost earlier momentum as investors awaited the expected announcement by the U.S. Federal Reserve Board that interest rates are to head higher by a quarter-point — the first increase in four years. The Fed announcement is expected shortly after 2 p.m. ET.

In other news, shares in Canaccord Capital Inc. which started trading Wednesday on the Toronto market. Its shares, among the most active, opened at $11.10, 85¢ higher than its IPO price and by noon had slipped to $10.70.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average of 225 issues slipped 1.94 points, or 0.02 % to 11,858.87.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 169.45 points, or 1.4% to 12,285.75.

London’s FTSE 100 index retreated 32.5 points at 4,479.9. Frankfurt’s DAX 30 edged 0.21% lower while the Paris CAC 40 dipped 0.46%.

Canadian stock markets will be closed for Canada Day celebrations on Thursday. U.S. markets are closed next Monday for Independence Day.