Markets are shrugging off early profit jitters to trade convincingly higher today.

At midday, the TSE 300 is up 84 points to 7,841.

Volume is robust again today at 97 million shares, with buying holding an overwhelming 11:3 advantage over sellers. Winners outnumber losers by a large 19:13 margin.

There’s compelling strength in industrials, mines and materials. Golds are also rallying quite aggressively. Utilities are weaker, as are paper stocks and pipelines.

One of the big reasons for the bounce back today is the resurrection of beaten up BCE. The firm is bouncing off recent lows, up 1.3% on 5.2 million shares. Investors are back to punishing the reason for BCE’s weak earnings, as BCE Emergis is down 3%.

Golds are also driving higher, up about 4.5% at midday. The yellow metal’s price is up 1.4% above the all-important US$300 mark this morning in moderate trading. But producers are gaining impressively, led by a 4% rally in Barrick on 1.6 million shares. Placer Dome is up more than 5% on 1.8 million shares. Smaller players, Bema, Kinross, Glamis, Meridian and Franco Nevada are all higher.

The financials are posting modest gains. Trilon is up another 1.1% on hopes for a little more juice in Brascan’s takeover bid. Sun Life is up 3% in strong trading. The banks are modestly higher, too, led by National Bank and CIBC. Dumped by Brandes, AGF is down another 6.7% so far today in active trading.

Other gainers include Alcan, Co-Steel, Stelco, Cognicase and Bombardier.

On the downside, Enbridge, Canadian Utilities and Paramount Resources are all weaker. Open Text, Shaw Communications, Hudsons Bay and Masonite are also down.

In business news, GTC Transcontinental Group Ltd, the parent company of Investment Executive, is raising its dividend by 2¢.

There are a couple of buybacks in the works. Richelieu Hardware and George Weston have both announced their intentions to buy 5% of their shares back from the public through the TSE.

Also, the Illinois Director of Insurance has approved Kingsway Financial’s acquisition of control of American Country Insurance Co.

Trade dispute victim, Domtar says that it will permanently close three paper machines, two in St. Catharines, Ont., and one in Nekoosa, Wisconsin. The closures will reduce paper manufacturing capacity by 80,000 tons and will affect 335 employees. A provision of $45 million has been established to cover costs related to these closures.

In New York, early weakness was shaken off on the hope that interest rates will remain stable for a while. The Dow Jones industrial average is up 92 points as a result to 10,445. The Nasdaq composite index is more restrained, gaining just six ticks to 1,830. The S&P 500 is up seven points to 1146.

The S&P/CDNX Composite Index makes today a unanimous rally day, gaining six points to 1,171. Volume has been huge at 28.2 million shares, about 10 million more than usual by midday. Aventura Energy Inc is the big reason for all the volume, gaining 7% to 47¢ on 6.1 million shares.