Early morning selling due to negative corporate and economic news, turned into cautious buying by late morning. The S&P/TSX index is up 20 points at 6294. Volume is on the strong side at 91.3 million shares, with selling outweighing the buying by about 15:11. Market breadth gives a modest edge to the bulls though, with winners outnumbering losers by about 15:13.

The split in the market is reflected along sector lines with weakness in telecoms, energy, golds and industrials and gains in techs, financials, health care and diversifieds.

The banks are the big movers today. CIBC is carrying the ball for the bulls. It’s up 2%. There’s also some strength in Manulife Financial. This is balanced off by selling in Bank of Montreal and Sun Life, and slides in Great-West Life and Amvescap.

Celestica is pushing the techs higher, joined by Cognos.

There is also notable buying in CanWest Global, CAE, Masonite International, Emco and Real Resources.

The energy group is down, but there is nevertheless some strength in big names such as EnCana, Baytex Energy and Hurricane Hydrocarbons. Canadian Natural Resources and Suncor Energy are notable losers.

Other losers include Telus, Shaw Communications, CP Ships and Manitoba Telecom.

In earnings news, Bennett Environmental released third quarter results indicating a profit of $2,306,240, up from $1,448,447 in net income from a year earlier.

On the financing front, Laperriere & Verreault has closed the private placement of 2.5 million shares for total proceeds of $31,875,000, including exercising the overallotment option by the syndicate of underwriters co-led by Scotia Capital Inc. and National Bank Financial Inc., and also including Sprott Securities Inc. and Desjardins Securities Inc. The net proceeds of the offering will be used to finance the company’s expansion projects, including the anticipated acquisition of the Eimco process equipment division of Baker Hughes Inc.

The S&P/TSX Venture is the lone holdout today, dropping two points to 901 on light volume of 10.4 million shares. The day’s top trader is Conac Software, flat at 9¢ on 959,800 shares.

In New York, early selling pressure has also given way to some modest buying. The Dow Jones industrial average is up 21 points to 8296. The S&P 500 has gained three ticks to 882. The Nasdaq composite index has made a seven point gain to 1279.