Toronto stocks closed slightly higher on Wednesday as a rebound in oil and metal prices boosted resource shares.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 10.09 points, or 0.08%, to close at 12,730.41.

Half of the 10 TSX main groups posted gains, with the energy sector rising 0.9% and the mining group adding 0.27%.

The heavily weighted financial sector fell 0.19%.

The price of light sweet crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange moved ahead 41¢ to US$51.26 a barrel after plunging $1.78 on Tuesday and dropping under $51 Wednesday morning.

Among energy issues, EnCana Corp. rose 63¢, or 1.2%, to $54.88, Petro-Canada gained 66¢, or 1.5%, to $43.68 and Suncor Energy was up 59¢, or 0.7%, at $85.09.

The price of bullion jumped 1% to US$633.30 an ounce, which helped shares of Goldcorp climb 33¢, or 1.1%, to $30.47.

Among individual stocks, Brookfield Asset Management Inc. shares rose 38¢ to $56.81. after Brookfield agreed to buy U.S. shopping mall giant The Mills Corp. for US$7.5 billion, including assumed debt and preferred stock.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped 9.48 points, or 0.33%, to finish at 2,855.75.

The Canadian dollar was ahead 0.27 of a cent to US85.25¢.

In New York, investors sold U.S. technology shares after disappointing financial results from bellwether Intel Corp.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 5.44 points, or 0.04%, to end at 12,577.15. The S&P 500 Index dipped 1.28 points, or 0.09%, to close at 1,430.62. The Nasdaq composite index fell 18.36 points, or 0.74%, to finish at 2,479.42.

Investors were watching for Apple Inc.’s results after Wednesday’s closing bell.