Traders appear to be giving today’s slew of economic news, and the occasion of a new prime minister a mixed reaction. First off, Paul Martin formally became prime minister this morning, inaugurating a new era in Canadian politics. On the data front, Canada’s trade surplus fell, on weak exports, suggesting that rate cuts may be in order. Also, labour productivity data highlighted Canada’s tendency to lag the U.S.

In the U.S., the data was mixed, with consumer sentiment dropping. This was a surprise to most pundits.

While the U.S. trade deficit continued to grow, producer inflation remained low, which is generally good news for those worried about rate hikes in the U.S.

Throw it all in, and traders are divided, if they are at work at all. The S&P/TSX index is just three points higher to 7,959. But volume is the real story, with just 116.5 million shares changing hands. Volume favours buyers over sellers by a margin of 13:8. Market breadth is also a bit bullish, with winners outnumbering losers 62:47.

Old economy stalwarts such as miners, golds and materials are making gains today. Health care and energy stocks are weaker, though.

Golds are gaining again today, with Placer Dome up 1.3%, and Kinross up 3%. There are bigger gains for smaller names such as Blackrock Ventures, Northern Orion, Golden Star Resources and Ivanhoe Mines.

Stelco is making strong gains, following a strong IPO for a steel firm in the U.S. There are also gains in Westaim and CN Rail.

The weak consumer reading in the U.S. is whacking names such as Royal Bank. It is down about 1% in active trading. AGF is lower, too. However, there is a bit of strength in rivals, TD Bank and Sun Life Financial. Power Financial is up a bit.

Techs are mixed, with Nortel up 0.9% and ATI gaining 0.5%. Bennett Enviro and Telesystem International Wireless are up. There is notable selling in Celestica and Sierra Wireless.

Retailers are weak today, after Sears Canada Inc. lowered its profit forecast blaming weak holiday season sales. It is down about 13%. Hudson’s Bay is down sharply, too.

There is also selling in EnCana, Suncor Energy, and Penn West Petroleum. Canfor, Trojan Tech and Aurizon Mines are lower too.

In corporate news, Magna reports that its Austrian unit, Magna Steyr, has hired a new CEO, Manfred Remmel, to replace Herbert Demel, who became CEO of Fiat Auto.

In New York, traders are also taking it easy on a holiday season Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average is up just 17 points in light trading, to 10,025. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index is two ticks lower at 1,940.

The S&P/TSX Venture index is showing more enthusiasm than the big boards. It has gained 18 points to 1,657 on light volume of just 29 million shares. Diadem Resources is the day’s top trader, up 3¢ to 12¢ on 1.7 million shares traded.