Stocks are holding up well amid some profit-taking pressure this morning. At midday the S&P/TSX index is down just 18 points to 7095. Volume remains very weak today though, at just 55 million shares, as traders appear to be extending last week’s vacations. The volume is almost evenly split, with sellers holding a modest 26:25 edge over sellers. Market breadth is negative though, with losers outnumbering winners by about five to four.

Most of the pressure is on tech stocks, which ran up at the end of last week in a bargain-hunting frenzy. Today that trend is unwinding, with techs down more than 3%. On the flip side, golds are back up more than 3%. There’s also some selling in health care, industrials, consumer stocks, and energy. Materials and real estate are also minor gainers too.

BCE is leading the selling today, down about 1.5% on more than 1 million shares. But there are bigger percentage drops in names such as Nortel Networks, Celestica, ATI, Cognicase and Biovail.

Hummingbird is the day’s big loser, dropping 14% on a pre-announcement of lower revenues and a net loss for its current quarter.

There’s also some weakness in Stelco, Canadian Natural Resources, Talisman Energy, Cameco and Cott.

Gold is all that glitters today, with Barrick and Placer Dome powering the way higher on 3% gains. They are joined by strength in Newmont Mining, Glamis Gold, Meridian Gold, Bema Gold, Agnico Eagle and Goldcorp.

There are also isolated gains in Scotiabank and Corus.

In M&A news this morning, Clarica reports it has completed the sale of 50% of its interest in the Clarica Centre, a retail and commercial office and condominium complex in Ottawa. The property has been sold to an unidentified Canadian institutional investor for an undisclosed price.

In other news, Vivendi Universal has issued a release confirming that it is in active negotiations with its main credit banks to address the short-term liquidity concerns disclosed following a July 3 board meeting. The company says it expects to conclude an agreement very shortly.

In New York, selling pressure is dominating the trade. The Dow has dropped 118 points to 9262. The S&P is down 13 ponts to 976. Nasdaq is the weakest market, as techs lead the way lower, down 31 points to 1417.

The S&P/TSX Venture index continues to celebrate the resurgence in gold stocks however, gaining five ticks to 1142 on light volume of just 9.4 million shares. American Bonanza Gold leads the way once again, gaining 1¢ to 18¢ on 420,000 shares.