Stocks are trading higher Tuesday, shaking off any fears that might have surfaced due to reports of possible ricin poison found in offices at the U.S. Senate. The S&P/TSX composite index is up 40 points to 8,680.

Volume is stronger today at 171.1 million shares, with the buying ahead of selling by a nine to seven margin. Market breadth is decisively bullish too, as winners outnumber losers by six to five.

There is no economic news on either side of the border today to direct trading, so traders are responding to the ongoing flow of earnings reports.

The recovery in energy stocks is driving the trade once again today, with the group gaining 1.5%. Although, energy trusts remain unloved.

Golds and health care stocks are making solid gains too, as are financials. Miners remain weak, and techs are paring their recent gains today, too.

On the upside, Bombardier is a big mover. It has gained more than 5% on heavy trading of 12.1 million shares. There is no news from the firm though.

The real sector strength is energy, with EnCana gaining 1.7%. Petro Canada is up 1%, and there is buying in Suncor Energy, up 2.4%, Canadian Natural Resources has added 3.8%, and there is buying in TransCanada and Southwestern Resources. Enbridge is lower, however.

The big gainer on the day is newcomer Duvernay Oil, which jumped 21% in heavy trading in its’ IPO. Duvernay completed its initial public offering of five million common shares for gross proceeds of $52.5 million. The offering was made through a syndicate of underwriters led by Peters & Co. Ltd. and including FirstEnergy Capital Corp., Scotia Capital Inc., UBS Securities Canada Inc. and Sprott Securities Inc. The net proceeds from the offering will be applied to finance Duvernay’s continuing exploration and development activities.

Golds are a solid source of strength today, led by smaller producers such as Eldorado Gold, Yamana Gold, and Southwestern Resources.

Financials are higher today, led by a 1.2% rally in TD Bank. Royal Bank is stronger, as is Manulife.

CIBC is lower, following reports that one of its’ traders is being swept up in the U.S. fund trading scandal.

Mediagrif is up 5% on its’ latest results. It reported that net earnings for the third quarter amounted to $2.3 million, compared with $1.4 million in the previous year.

There are also gains in names such as Alcan, BCE, Bakbone Software, and ConjuChem and Angiotech are leading the biotechs higher.

Nortel is leading the way on a market cap basis once again today, shaving 2.2% off yesterday’s gains. Traders continue the trend of driving the networker higher and then skimming some profits. Volume is still strong with 17.1 million shares traded.

Other recent winners are also giving back recent gains, including Ecopia Biosciences and Geac Computer.

Inco is weighing on the market again too, dropping 2.8% in active trading, after it announced its’ latest earnings. The firm reported net earnings of $74 million, compared with a net loss of $2 million for the fourth quarter of 2002. Net earnings for 2003 were $137 million, compared with a net loss of $1.48 billion last year.

Financing news is also weighing on a few names. Vincor is down 1.2% on news that it has entered into an agreement with Scotia Capital for a bought deal for total proceeds of $150,412,500. The net proceeds of the offering will be used by Vincor for general corporate purposes.

Similarly, Theratechnologies has dropped 10% on news that it has entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters for an offering worth $13,627,500. The syndicate is being led by Desjardins Securities Inc. The proceeds of the transaction will be used for working capital and corporate development purposes.

Stelco has dropped more than 3% on news that its’ Norambar unit has arranged a new credit facility for $30 million.

Other weak names include Westaim, Atlas Cold Storage, Metallic Ventures, Corriente Resources, and Sierra Wireless.

In other business news, Nevada Pacific Gold has completed the acquisition of the Magistral gold mine in Mexico, from Queenstake Resources. Nevada Pacific has paid US$4 million cash and has issued two million common shares to Queenstake Resources with a final payment of US$3 million to be paid six months from the closing date.

The RioCan Retail Value L.P. has completed the acquisition of Parkway Mall in Toronto, for almost $38 million.