Markets have hung onto their opening rallies through the morning . At midday, the S&P/TSX index is up 60 points to 6,353.

Volume is still weak today at 78.2 million shares, with the buying trumping the selling the by about 25:11. Market breadth is evenly split between winners and losers.

Almost every sector is seeing some buying today. The only down group is the golds, which have dropped 1.5%. There is strength however, in the volatile techs, up more than 4%. Rallies are also evident in real estate, health care, telecoms and consumer stocks.

Nortel Networks is leading the tech group higher. It is up 6% on strong volume of 16.6 million shares, following news of a supply agreement with Cox Communications. There is also general strength in the tech group due to some positive guidance from Motorola. Celestica, Cognos, Open Text and Ballard Power are all higher, too.

One weak spot in the tech group is Research in Motion, which has dropped 4% in strong trading on news that it is cutting 10% of its workforce. As a result of this work force reduction, RIM is anticipating a special pretax charge of between $8 million and $9 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2003. The longer-term cost savings of these measures are estimated to be approximately $20 million to $25 million per year. The savings are expected to begin in the company’s fiscal fourth quarter, with the full impact of savings realized in the first quarter.

Financial stocks are active traders once again today. TD Bank is down a little, with 3.6 million shares changing hands. Bank of Montreal is up in active trading. Scotiabank is stronger too, as is insurer, Fairfax Financial.

Other gainers include EnCana, NewAlta, Canadian Tire and BCE.

Golds are the weak spot today, as some of the flight to safety retraces its steps. Placer Dome is down 1.8% in active trading. Newmont is down 6%, following its latest earnings results. Glamis, Meridian and Kinross are all down, too.

Other losers include Baytex Energy, Magellan Aerospace and SNC Lavalin.

In other news, Saputo Inc reported net earnings of $42.1 million, up 1.5% as compared with the second quarter of fiscal 2002.

Methanex Corp. says it will proceed with the construction of an 840,000-tonne-per-year expansion at its methanol production hub in Chile. The expansion, which has a 20-year natural gas supply contract, is expected to cost approximately US$275 million. The expansion is expected to be completed by early 2005.

In New York, markets have also been trading higher. The Dow Jones industrial average is up 110 points at midday to 8,469. The S&P 500 is up 12 points to 889, while the Nasdaq composite index has gained 34 points to 1,354.

The S&P/TSX Venture index is also stronger at midday, gaining two and a half points to 952. Volume is average at 13 million shares. The top trader is Fareport Capital, up 4¢ to 13¢ on more than 1.5 million shares traded.