A flurry of bargain hunting, today, is reversing some of the recent selling on North American markets. The S&P/TSX index is up 35 points to 7165. Volume is very weak at a mere 70.9 million shares and the losers have a very slight edge on winners. However, the broad-based buying is enough to hold the index in the black.

The banks are powering the market recovery today, with Scotiabank up 1.6% in active trading and CIBC up 1.7%. Royal and TD Bank are more or less flat. TD Bank has seen very heavy volume, with almost 2 million shares crossing the tape. Manulife is also shaking off its recent woes, gaining 3.6%, to give the financials a further boost.

There are some gains in a broad array of blue chips including Alcan, Molson, Precision Drilling, Methanex and Co-Steel. Geac is up on its recent profit results. Ballard Power and Biovail are up too.

All this buying action is coming at the expense of the golds. Barrick is down 2.4%, Placer Dome has drpped 3.9%. There are losses in Bema, TVX Gold, Echo Bay Mines, Agnico Eagle, Kinross, Glamis, Goldcorp, and Pan American Silver.

Sierra Wireless is the leading non-gold loser. It’s down about 19% in active trading in response to its restructuring plans.

The weakness in golds is hitting the small caps today. The S&P/TSX Venture index is down 13 points today to 1178. Volume is average at 14.8 million shares. Iciena Ventures Ltd. is the day’s top trader, gaining 5¢ to 47¢ on 641,000 shares.

In business news, Abitibi-Consolidated says that U.S. softwood duties are causing its to shut three sawmills in Quebec, and to close down two other sawmill production lines. The closures will affect approximately 700 people, cutting 20% of Abitibi’s annual lumber production. It will also be carrying out rotating closures at other mills in Quebec and B.C. during the summer.

In earnings news, Trojan Technologies reported earnings of $1,244,100 in the third quarter.

In M&A action, Magna International is buying Donnelly Corp. for approximately US$320 million, and it is assuming approximately US$95 million of interest-bearing debt.

In New York, similar bargain hunting sentiment has been powering the indexes higher across the board today. The Dow Jones industrial index is up 106 points to 9388. The S&P has gained 10 ticks to 1003. The Nasdaq composite index has added seven points to 1467.