Toronto stocks edged higher Thursday as techs rallied but a drop in bullion prices weighed on gold mining issues. At midday, the S&P/TSX composite index was up 7.04 points, or 0.08%, at 8,995.64. Volume was 110 million shares.

Tech issues extended Wednesday’s 2.8% rise, climbing 1.41%.

Nortel Networks was up 12¢, or 3.04%, at $4.07 and Sierra Wireless rose 2.9% to $23.82.

Materials were up 0.2% with Ivanhoe Mines jumped 3.67% to $8.76. The mining exploration company said earlier on Thursday it believes it has found the world’s highest-grade copper mineralization in its Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project in Mongolia.

Energy issues rose 0.3% as oil prices stabilized just under the US$47 a barrel mark, after U.S. government data showed supplies were still 16% below 2003 levels.

First Calgary Petroleum was ahead 1.74% at $16.33.

The gold subgroup saw a 0.3% drop. Gold prices fell sharply in London as a weaker euro versus the U.S. dollar made the metal less appealing for foreign buyers.

The heavily weighted financial services group was down 0.4%

Fund company stocks were lower following a report in today’s Globe and Mail that four big mutual fund companies have agreed to pay about $200 million in restitution for questionable trading practices.

Three of the companies, Investors Group Inc., CI Fund Management Inc., AGF Management Ltd. are publicly traded. The firms have been in talks with the Ontario Securities Commission for several weeks.

Shares in IGM Financial, the parent company of Investors Group, were down 1.8% at $35.00.

CI shares fell 1% to $16.55. Yesterday CI said it has ruled out the prospect of turning the fund company into an income trust, citing legislative uncertainty from the federal government.

The lack of clarity from Ottawa has prompted CI to dismiss the trust idea, CI president and CEO Bill Holland told shareholders at the firm’s annual meeting.

AGF shares were flat at $16.26.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index was up 3.48 points, or 0.21%, at 1,683.60, on volume of 37 million shares.

U.S. blue chips rose on Thursday, led by tobacco stocks, while technology shares were under pressure by a warning from Applied Materials Inc., the world’s biggest semiconductor-equipment maker.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 17.30 points or 0.16%, at 10,566.87. The S&P 500 was up 0.78 point, or 0.07%, at 1,182.72. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index was down 0.62 point, or 0.03%, at 2,099.06.

Applied Materials fell 1% a day after the company warned an oversupply of chips would hurt sales and profits in the current quarter.

Corporate news was coupled with a mixed bag of economic data. The Conference Board’s index of leading indicators fell 0.3% the fifth straight monthly decline.

The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits dipped to 334,000 last week, matching economists’ forecasts.