Markets are hanging on to modest gains today. At midday, the TSE 300 is up 14 points to 7,277.

Volume is strong at 97 million shares, as the expiration of options contracts helps boost trading.

Buyers are outpacing sellers by about 13 to five. Losers hold a slight edge on winners, however.

On a sector basis, it’s a day of mostly modest gains. Hope for a rebound in energy stocks has dissipated amid talk of OPEC’s possible dissolution.

The oil and gas sub-index is now posting a small slide. Gold is down notably again, and the banks are weak, too. There are gains in tech, paper stocks, real estate, transports and media stocks.

Nortel Networks is leading the gains in tech today, as networkers rally generally. Nortel is up more than 4% in heavy volume, driving the tech group up more than 3%. There are also gains in Celestica, 724 Solutions, Certicom, JDS Uniphase, Research in Motion, Descartes Systems and Bell Canada International.

The weakness in golds is led by Franco-Nevada, which is down 5%. Barrick Gold and Placer Dome are down, too.

The morning began full of hope for an energy recovery, but that has floundered. Instead, there are notable losses in firms such as Suncor Energy, Alberta Energy, Baytex Energy and Canadian Natural Resources.

The financials are also weak as bank earnings season begins again. TD Bank led the way yesterday, reporting lower profits. Today it is off 2% in active trading. Royal Bank is down about 1.1%, both Bank of Montreal and Scotia are down better than 2% as well.

Other losers today include CAE, Bombardier and CP Rail.

In earnings news, Guardian Capital Group reports that its net earnings jumped to almost $125 million last quarter, from $1.1 million last year, although this was due to a new issue. Cash flow from operations dropped to just over $2 million, from just under $3 million in the period last year.

Ainsworth Lumber reports that net income for the third quarter was $3.0 million, compared with a net loss of $700,000 for the third quarter of 2000.

Zenon Environmental Inc said it has shown an increase in operating profit to $2.6 million for the quarter.

In New York, markets are cautious in light trading. Mid-morning stocks spiked up on news that a key Al Qaeda member had been killed in the U.S. bombing. But as traders face the prospect of aligning themselves for the weekend, they are backing off those gains.

At midday, the Dow Jones industrial average is down 14 points to 9,858. The Nasdaq composite has dropped three ticks to 1,898. The S&P 500 is down five points to 1,137.

The CDNX is up three points to 3,029. Volume is average at 13.5 million shares. Oils and miners are weak, techs are up. Wildcard Wireless is the top trader, down 31% to 25¢ on volume of 938,000 shares.