By Nichola Saminather
TORONTO, March 9 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index was marginally higher on Friday as a drop in full-time jobs and slower wage growth in February offset gains in oil and base metal prices.
* The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was trading up 15.25 points, or 0.1 percent, at 15,552.52 at 9:57 a.m. ET (1457 GMT), after opening 0.27 percent higher. It is on track to end the week 1.06 percent higher.
* The Canadian economy added 15,400 jobs in February after a big loss in January, but full-time positions shrank and wage growth decelerated. Detour Gold DGC.TO was the biggest gainer on the TSX, rising 5.9 percent, after reporting revenues and earnings that beat expectations. The 10 best performers on the index were dominated by energy and mining companies, including Baytex Energy Corp BTE.TO , NuVista Energy Ltd NVA.TO and Ivanhoe Mines Ltd IVN.TO , which were lifted by strong earnings and higher oil and metal prices.
* Copper futures CMCU3 advanced nearly 1 percent to $6,901.50 a tonne, while U.S. oil futures CLc1 rose 1.6 percent to $61.07 a barrel.
* Gold companies did not fare so well, with Tahoe Resources THO.TO , Yamana Gold Inc YRI.TO and Klondex Mines Ltd KDX.TO among the 10 biggest decliners.
* Gold futures GCcv1 slipped 0.4 percent to $1,316.7 an ounce as risk appetite returned on receding fears of a trade war after the U.S. exempted Canada and Mexico from steel and aluminum import tariffs and said exceptions could also be made for other countries. The biggest decliner on the index was Enghouse Systems Ltd ENGH.TO , which dropped 5 percent after reporting first-quarter profit that missed expectations after the bell on Thursday. The consumer cyclicals group was the sector with the most gains, rising 0.2 percent, while the telecommunications group posted the biggest declines, falling 0.2 percent.
* Bombardier Inc BBDb.TO and Baytex were the most actively traded stocks on the index.
* There were 136 advancing issues and 105 declining ones. Nine were flat.