Markets are bounding ahead once again today on high hopes for economic recovery. The TSE 300 is up 109 points at lunchtime to 7820. Volume is average at 87 million shares. The market internals are very bullish, with buying volume holding a three to one edge on the selling. Winners outnumber losers by 12 to 7.

On a sector basis, the rally is almost unanimous again today. Golds are weaker, as traders flee its relative safety for more aggressive bets. Department stores are weak too, but almost everything else is up. Conglomerates are up 2%, as are miners, transports and cable stocks. Financials and energy stocks are strong too. But the runaway winner is tech, with a 5.5% rally underway in that space.

Nortel Networks is leading the charge for the techs today. It is up better than 6% on volume of 5.8 million shares. Nortel is joined by Celestica, which is up almost 8% on strong volume, BCE Emergis is up 13%, JDS Uniphase, Research in Motion, Cognos and Ballard Power have each gained about 8% so far today. Geac Computer is up nicely too.

Westcoast Energy is leading the oils up, and Alcan is doing the honours for the miners.

Royal Bank is up 1.5% on strong volume, as is CIBC.

Clarica and Sun Life earned themselves a 0.5% jump on strong volume after they came out and defended their merger agreement in the press today.

As often happens, the broader market’s gain is the golds’ loss. TVX Gold is leading the way down, off 3.7%. But Goldcorp, Agnico Eagle, Meridian Gold and Barrick aren’t far behind.

Other losers include AT&T Canada, Concert Industries, Fairfax Financial, Descartes Systems, and Hurricane Hydrocarbons.

In business news, Axcan Pharma has filed a preliminary prospectus for an offering of 4.5 million common shares to be underwritten by J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., Thomas Weisel Partners LLC, UBS Warburg LLC, National Bank Financial Inc. and SunTrust Capital Markets Inc. The company intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to pay off its Enteris acquisition in France, with the rest to be used for general corporate purposes, including the development of new products and future acquisitions of products and companies.

In New York, the rally has been convincing too, as the Dow has poked its head above 10,500 for the first time in a while. At midday, the Dow is up 148 points to 10517. Nasdaq has gained 38 points to 1841. The S&P is up 15 ticks to 1147.

The S&P/CDNX Composite Index makes it a sweep for the bulls, as it gains six points to 1,132. Volume is average there too at 17.8 million shares. Madison Enterprises is the top trader, up 20% to 12¢ on volume of 739,500 shares.