Markets are higher at midday as research analysts start calling bottoms in certain sectors.

The TSE 300 is up 72 points at to 7,762.

Volume is strong at 71.6 million shares, with buyers outpacing sellers by about eight to five. Winners outnumber losers by better than 10 to seven.

On a sector basis, tech stocks are leading the way, pushing industrials up more than 2%. Energy stocks are up nicely following the latest bounce in oil prices.

Consumer stocks are up, led by biotechs and food stores. Transports, utilities and conglomerates are gaining, too. Only miners and department stores are down, and even they aren’t down much.

Nortel Networks is up almost 3% gaining, in the wake of Merrill Lynch calling a bottom in chip demand. Goldman Sachs analyst Abby Joseph Cohen is also calling a bottom in the economy generally, and touting tech in particular.

ATI is up almost 9% in heavy trading, other gainers include, Mitel, Exfo Electro, Alcatel and Tundra Semi.

Other gainers include old economy names such as CP, Akita Drilling and Magna Entertainment

Financial stocks are busy, although the upside momentum isn’t that strong. Manulife is leading the way higher off yesterday’s strong results. CIBC is making gains, and Royal Bank is down in active trading. TD is flat, but busy.

There’s not much downside action. Alcan is leading the miners down. Other losers include Maverick Tube, Slater Steel, Gennum, CanWest Global, Mullen Transportation and Descartes Systems.

On the news front, Canadian companies are marching acquisitively across the globe today. SR Telecom is buying Lucent’s French wireless assets for an undisclosed sum.

CAE has purchased Norway-based Valmarine AS for $58 million in cash and shares. The new company will be part of CAE’s marine controls business and will be named CAE Valmarine.

Former M&A man Gord Nixon led off his stint at the helm of the Royal Bank today by buying U.S.-based broker Tucker Anthony Sutro Corp. It will be merged into RBC’s Minneapolis-based Dain Rauscher Inc. to create the ninth largest full-service securities firm in the U.S., with nearly 2,100 investment executives. RBC is paying US$625 million in cash for the firm.

Finally, Magnifoam Technology International has acquired 51% of Leewood Elastomer GmbH, a private manufacturer and distributor of silicone elastomer products based in Germany. The purchase price is $2,624,500, which is being satisfied through a combination of 70% shares and 30% cash. In addition, there is an agreed-upon formula for MTII to acquire the balance of Leewood over time.

On the earnings front, Canadian Utilities reported earnings for the three months ended June 30 were $45.1 million, 71¢ a share, compared with earnings of $42.6 million in the previous year.

Cheese firm Saputo revealed net earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2002 stood at $40.3 million, or 79¢ a share, up from 60¢ a share in the first quarter of fiscal 2001. Besides the continuous efforts in improving Saputo’s operating processes, the first quarter also benefited from higher cheese prices in the United States.

In New York, the Merrill Lynch call helped get the market off on the right foot. The Dow Jones is up 68 points to 10,590. The Nasdaq composite index has gained 47 points to 2,074. The S&P 500 is up 11 points to 1,222.

The CDNX is enjoying gains, too. It’s up 15 points to 3,078 on strong volume of 13.1 million shares. Mines are leading the way higher, followed by techs and oils. Isee3D Inc is the top trader, up 9% to 12¢ on 1.93 million shares.