The S&P/TSX composite index is up 12 points at midday to 6,570 in a choppy session. Volume is very weak though, at just 59 million shares.

The volume is split evenly between buyers and sellers, and market breadth is almost dead even, too.

On a sector basis, there is strength in the techs and telecoms. Energy stocks, industrials, consumer staples and financials are higher, too. Golds are giving back some of yesterday’s gains — the group is down 1.5% — and there’s some selling in materials, and diversifieds.

Bombardier is enjoying a little rebound today, gaining 1.3% on continued strong volume. It is followed by a gain in CN Rail and Air Canada, as the transports bounce back a bit.

Royal Bank and Bank of Nova Scotia are leading the financial group higher, with modest gains.

The tech stocks are leading the way higher today, although Nortel Networks is not along for the ride. It has dropped almost 5% on 8.2 million shares. And, Zarlink is down amid weakness in the semiconductors. Against this selling, there is some big buying in ATI Technologies, Celestica, Research in Motion, CAE and Ballard Power.

The downside is being led by golds, such as Newmont Mining, Placer Dome, Glamis, Meridian Gold and Goldcorp.

There is also selling in stocks such as AT&T Canada, EnCana, Acier Leroux, Enbridge and Alcan.

In earnings news, Synsorb Biotech reported earnings of $8.06 million for its second quarter.

Premium Brands is launching a stock buyback for up to 2.9% of its outstanding shares.

Creo has signed a definitive agreement to acquire ScenicSoft Inc., a privately held company located near Seattle. ScenicSoft develops and markets software for the publishing and printing industries. Creo will acquire it for approximately US$9.5 million in a combination of cash, equity and an assumption of liabilities.

In New York, the trade has been pretty lacklustre so far Friday. At midday, the Dow Jones industrial average is down 15 points to 8,804. The S&P 500 has gained a single point to 932. The Nasdaq composite index is up 14 points to 1,359.

The weakness in golds is spelling a small slide in the S&P/TSX Venture index. It is down a point to 1,011. Volume is still on the light side there, at 11.4 million shares. Canadian Imperial Ventures is the top trader, up 5¢ to 24¢ on 1.5 million shares.