Markets opened lower on some weaker than expected economic data this morning, but clawed their way back throughout the morning. At midday, the S&P/TSX index is three points higher at 7004.

Volume is fairly strong at 116 million shares, with the buying ahead of the selling by a 13:8 margin. Market breadth is almost evenly split between winners and losers however.

The TSX sectors are pretty evenly divided, too. Gold has been the big beneficiary of the early pullback, gaining 1.5%. There is also some modest strength in health care and financials. Weakness is coming in the diversified group, consumer stocks and industrials. But most sector moves are very moderate.

Nortel is the day’s top trader, as usual. It is up 1.6% today on decent volume of 12.7 million shares. Creo is also a strong trader, up 2.6% on almost 4.7 million shares. And, Corel has gained more than 12%. However, Telesystem International Wireless is pulling back from yesterday’s gains. It is down 7% today. Geac and Cognos are both weaker.

The biotechs and other health care names are higher at the hands of rallies in TLC, Vasogen and Patheon.

The financials are busy traders, with most of the big banks recording some modest gains. Bank of Montreal and Scotia are leading the way, each gaining 0.7%. Royal and CIBC are also up.

Other gainers include Canadian Natural Resources, Northgate Exploration, Sears Canada, Cogeco Cable and Agnico Eagle.

On the downside, there’s selling inn Shaw Communications, Cott, Teck, Magna International, Primewest Energy Trust, Arctic Glacier Income Fund, and Inter Pipeline Fund.

In business news, Agrium is defending itself against news that Moody’s Investors Service has placed its debt ratings under review for possible downgrade following word that production at its Alaska facility may be reduced due to a potential reduction in gas supply from Union Oil Company of California to the facility. Agrium will legally contest the action by Unocal. It also reiterated that second quarter earnings will be about US50¢ per share, in line with previous guidance.

On the financing front, the secondary offering of 37,946,876 of Methanex’s common shares previously owned by Nova Chemicals has closed. RBC Capital Markets acted as lead manager for the offering and CIBC World Markets acted as co-lead manager. Other members of the syndicate included Scotia Capital, TD Securities, Citigroup and UBS Warburg. With the closing of the secondary offering, Jeffrey Lipton, the president and chief executive officer of Nova, and the chairman of the Methanex board of directors, and Terence Poole and Christopher Pappas, both senior executive officers of Nova, have resigned as directors of Methanex. Pierre Choquette, Methanex’s president and CEO, will act as interim chairman. The board will conduct a process to fill the vacant board seats and to select a new chairperson.

In M&A news, MDC Corporation is buying the 26% of Maxxcom Inc. it doesn’t already own in a share swap. The terms of the agreement in principle were negotiated between MDC and an independent committee of Maxxcom’s board of directors established to consider and respond to a proposal made by MDC to take Maxxcom private. The agreement in principle is subject to negotiation of a definitive agreement between MDC and Maxxcom. In addition, Manitoba Telecom Services is buying back 5% of its public float.

In New York, stocks opened lower following a weaker-than-expected jobless claims report that reiterated the jobless nature of the U.S. recovery. The Dow has since recovered its footing though, and at midday is now down just 30 points at 9009. The S&P 500 dropped a point to 985. Nasdaq has slipped four points to 1630.

The S&P/TSX Venture index is up just a single point to 1088. Volume is on the light side at 15 million shares. The day’s top trader is Northern Dynasty Minerals, which is down 6¢ to 78¢ on 443,500 shares.