Toronto stocks are getting a lift from banking and technology shares on Wednesday. At midday, the S&P TSX composite index is up 48.99 points to 7,808.41.

The heavily weighted financial sector is rising on expectations that the bank’s will deliver solid fourth-quarter results next month. It’s up another 0.68% today.

Royal Bank of Canada is up 1.4%, TD is up 1.29%, and Scotiabank is up 1.08%.

The TSX tech sector is up 0.38%, supported by strong quarterly results from bellwether Intel. The chipmaker reported on Tuesday that quarterly profit more than doubled and said it expects higher sales for the final quarter.

Among Toronto’s tech issues, Tundra Semiconductor is up 2.87%, and Nortel Networks is up 1.14%.

Celestica Inc. has gained14¢ to $23.61, after announcing that it would buy Massachusetts-based electronics supplier Manufacturers Services Ltd. for at least US$276 million to expand its assembly and manufacturing capabilities.

The Bank of Canada’s decision to leave the overnight rate unchanged at 2.75% had little effect on the market. In its policy announcement the central bank said it doesn’t plan to lower rates in the near future.

In other economic news, Statistics Canada reported that manufacturers’ shipments fell 4.5% to $40.9 billion in August. The aftermath of the electrical blackout in mid-August, which cloaked much of Ontario in darkness, was one of several factors contributing to the decline.

The big business news in Canada came from chipmaker Celestica, which has announced a takeover of almost US$250 million in stock for Manufacturers’ Services Ltd.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index is down 3.30 points to 1,426.59.

On Wall Street, stocks are seesawing around the peaks they hit the day before, as companies reported strong earnings but some investors took the opportunity to sell shares at long-time highs.

The Dow Jones industrial average is up 13.18 points to 9,826.16. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index is up 8.65 points to 1,951.84. The broader S&P 500 is up 0.55 of a point to 1,050.03.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported retail sales declined 0.2% in September. However, the final report on August sales shows an advance of 1.2% instead of the 0.6% previously estimated.