By James Langton

(March 26 – 13:00 ET) – Markets opened up nicely today and continue to power higher at midday. The TSE 300 is currently up about 91 points to 7,731.

Volume is light at just 54 million shares. However, market internals are notably positive, the volume favouring buyers three to one, and winners outnumbering losers about three to two.

Apart from golds and pipelines, all the TSE’s 14 sub-indices are up. Consumer products are strongest, gaining more than 3.5%, on the strength of rebounding biotechs. Financials, conglomerates and paper stocks are strong, too.

Industrials are up today, and while software is up as part of that move, tech hardware is down. Nortel Networks is leading the way south, off 1.3% on 2.8 million shares. Talk out of Cisco Systems a slowdown for the next three-quarters is hitting Nortel’s stock.

Nortel is joined by scattered weakness in names such as Siebel, BCE Emergis, Potash Corp., CanWest and Cogeco Cable.

The financials are unabashedly enjoying the general recovery today. Bank of Montreal is leading the banks higher, up about 4.7% in active trading. Sun Life is higher on behalf of the insurers in active trading. Only the fund companies and small distributors are down in the financial group so far.

Paper stocks are higher on the news of Norske Skog Canada’s purchase of Pacifica Papers. Typically the purchaser’s stocks falls, but the market likes this deal for both sides. Norske is up 5.5% in active trading. Pacifica has gained almost 13%.

Other winners include BCE, Bombardier, Onex, Kinross and techs, Royal Group Technologies, 724 Solutions and Ballard Power. Biotech’s are bouncing back, led by names such as Biovail and Angiotech.

In New York, today’s trading has carried much the same tone, a strong opening on the heels of strength in overseas markets, followed by a determined move higher in relatively light volume.

The Dow Jones industrial average is currently up 206 points to 9,711. The Nasdaq has gained 28 ticks to 1,957. The S&P 500 is up 19 points to 1,159. Transports, techs, utilities and financials are leading U.S. stocks higher.

The CDNX is up just a single point to 2,981. Volume is average at 17.2 million shares. Oils are down, fighting stronger techs and mines to a standstill. Tempus Corp is the leading trader, up 50% to 15¢ on 2 million shares.