Toronto stocks are seeing some modest gains, despite a lack of economic news. At midday, the S&P/TSX composite index is 24 points higher at 8,580.

Volume is rather strong, thanks to options expirations, at 182 million shares. Buying is outpacing the selling by a margin of about five to three. Winners outnumber losers six to five.

Old economy stocks are enjoying some buying heading into the weekend, as traders weigh the risk of further terrorist attacks. With little other news, beyond the first anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq and the possibility of the capture of a top al Qaeda official in Pakistan, the markets are focusing on the geopolitical risks in the market.

Miners are leading the way higher, up 1.4%. Real estate stocks are the only other group up more than 1%. Financials are stronger, as are consumer stocks, energy and materials. There’s some modest selling in golds and industrials.

Blue chip names such as Alcan, Barrick, EnCana and Suncor Energy are making solid gains today. Bigger gains are coming in smaller old economy names such as Gabriel Resources, Ivanhoe Mines, Rio Narcea, Algoma Steel, Storm Energy, Northern Orion Resources and Russel Metals.

A small miner, UEX, is a big winner today, up 25% on two million shares following news that it has signed a deal to acquire a 49% stake in eight uranium projects.

The big banks are enjoying a bid, led by a 1.3% rise in Bank of Montreal. The prospect of continued low interest rates is boosting sentiment in the group. TD Bank and Scotia are both up about 1%, and CIBC and Royal Bank have gained about half as much. Sun Life and Manulife are up a little too. Equitable Group has jumped another 3.8%.

CN Rail is slipping a little, despite reporting that members of the Canadian Auto Workers’ union have voted to accept tentative agreements reached by their union with the firm on Monday. The vote puts an end to a four-week strike by 5,000 workers.

The big Manitoba Telecom deal continues to capture traders’ attention. Its stock is up 2% today, in heavy trading. Potential competitor BCE is down 0.5%, in solid volume.

Nortel continues to lure traders back, too. It has gained 2.2% in strong volume of 22 million shares. The rebound theme is also boosting recent losers such as Sino-Forest.

Not all troubled companies are being welcomed back today. Bombardier continues to get beaten up. It is down almost 3%. Agnico-Eagle has dropped 4.3% on news that the Ontario Securities Commission is investigating its disclosure of the details of a mining disaster last year.

Crystallex is down 4.3% in active trading. The firm reported that David Matheson stepped down as chairman and a member of the audit committee since he is no longer an independent director as his law firm now acts as legal counsel to Crystallex. Johan Van’t Hof, president of Tonbridge Corp., has joined the Crystallex board of directors.

There is also selling in Celestica and Zarlink on the high tech side. Cumberland Resources is falling, too.

Telesystem International Wireless is down 1.5% on news that some of its shareholders have entered into an underwriting agreement with BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., Lazard Freres & Co. LLC., UBS Securities Canada Inc. and TD Securities Inc., to sell 21 million common shares at US$9.50 per share. The offering will consist of seven million common shares to be issued by TIW from treasury and a secondary offering of 14 million common shares to be sold by the selling shareholders, namely Telesystem Ltd., an affiliate of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., affiliates of J.P. Morgan Partners, LLC, and EEIF Melville B.V. and certain of its affiliates. TIW anticipates that the net proceeds of the treasury offering will be approximately US$62.7 million after deducting underwriting fees and other estimated expenses.

In earnings news, Provident Energy Trust reported 2003 earnings of $33.4 million.

The U.S. markets are down. The Dow Jones industrial average is off 43.70 points at10252. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index has slipped five points to 1,957. The broader S&P 500 is off five points at 1,117.

The junior S&P/TSX venture composite index has added five points to 1,863. Volume is on the light side at 29.2 million shares, led by Spider Resources Inc. It is down 10% on 900,000 shares.

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