(May 7 – 13:00 ET) – Toronto stocks trading higher in a quiet session so far. The TSE 300 has gained 45 points to 8,027, pushing the composite index back above the 8,000 mark.

Volume is weak though, with just 61 million shares changing hands. Volume favours buyers about two to one over sellers. Market breadth is more even, with winners holding a nine to eight edge over losers.

Despite a load of M&A activity in the U.S. energy sector, markets are relatively tame. Traders are perhaps holding off ahead of Cisco Systems’ hotly-anticipated earnings report tomorrow after the bell. Uncertainty about the economic situation is also subduing action.

The TSE’s sub-indices are evenly split between winners and losers today. Techs are leading the way higher, ratcheting up the financials as a consequence. Gold is also strong. The downside is quite weak, led by miners and utilities.

Nortel Networks is powering the way higher at midday. It is up about 3% on more than 3.9 million shares traded. Nortel joined by some buying in Exfo Electro, Sierra Wireless, Mitel and MindReady Solutions in the tech space.

But there’s also buying in a broad selection of stocks, including CHC Helicopter, Bell Canada International, Hurricane Hydrocarbon, Alimentation Couche-Tard, Oncolytics Biotech and Angiotech Pharma.

Almost all the financials are up, as the techs strengthen. Bank of Montreal is leading the way, up 2.4% in active trading. CIBC is up on strong volume, too.

Among the banks, National Bank is actually down a bit in heavy trading. It is also joined by a diverse cross-section of losers, including Empire, Siebel, Biomira, Barrington Petroleum, Calpine, Uni-Select, Meridian Gold, Four Seasons and Axcan Pharma.

In New York, the action is light, although the current direction is down. The Dow Jones industrial average is off 39 points to 10,913. The Nasdaq composite index is off 13 ticks to 2,179. The S&P 500 has dropped five points to 1,262.

The CDNX is sticking with the TSE today, up 19 points at midday to 3,145. Volume is strong at 20.5 million shares. Oils are up a cracking 2.3%, driving the index higher. Miners and techs are up a little, too. New Blue Ribbon is leading the way, up 21% to 40¢ on strong volume of 2.2 million shares.