The markets are rallying today. At midday, the TSE 300 is up 46 points to 7472. Volume is low at just 67.4 million shares, with selling outrunning the buying by 11:10. Market breadth is convincingly positive, however, at five to four.

The high-priced techs are suffering a bit. And, the golds are losing some of their flight to safety bid, as traders come back to the market. Miners are strong, as are energy plays and financials. Almost every other sector is posting a small gain.

The banks are actually leading the way higher today after Royal Bank’s strong earnings report last week. RBC is up 3.6% on strong volume of 2 million shares. It is followed closely by Bank of Nova Scotia, up 2.4%. TD is up 2%, and National Bank is making a small gain. CIBC and Bank of Montreal are the losers. CIBC is down about 1.2% following an article in the National Post, this past weekend, which highlighted some nifty tax avoidance strategies by the bank.

As strong as the banks are today, the techs are as determinedly weak. Nortel Networks is down 3.7% in active trading. Celestica is weak, as is JDS Uniphase, and AT&T Canada. Angiotech has dropped 15% to lead the biotechs down. However, there are gains in Ballard Power, ATI, Mosaic Group and CAE.

Other gainers, today, include Zargon Oil & Gas, Aber Diamond, Precision Drilling and Ensign Resources. Losers include Co-Steel and Agnico Eagle.

The S&P/CDNX Composite Index is the spoiler today, losing eight points to 1,105. Volume is on the light side there too at 13.9 million shares. Madison Enterprises is the top trader, down 10% to 9¢ on 774,000 shares.

In New York, the early momentum from strong forecasts by GM and Qualcomm have held up. At midday the Dow Jones industrial index is 108 points to the good at 10076. The Nasdaq composite index has added 25 points to 1750. The S&P is 11 points stronger at 1101.