Markets are posting modest gains in light trading Friday. At midday, the S&P/TSX index is up just nine points to 7,079.

Volume is 82.8 million shares, characteristic of a Friday in the middle of the summer. The volume is favouring the buying by about eight to five. Market breadth is almost dead even, with winners holding a tiny edge over losers.

The rather lacklustre markets are reflected in the evenly divided sector moves, too. Techs and telecoms are recovering a bit, real estate and utilities are higher too. On the downside, there’s some light selling in golds, health care and industrial stocks.

The story stock of the day is Cinram International. It has roared to a 21% gain on heavy volume of 4.8 million shares, on news that it has entered into a definitive agreement with AOL Time Warner Inc. to acquire its DVD and CD manufacturing, and physical distribution businesses in the U.S. and Europe. The purchase price is approximately US$1.05 billion in cash. The acquisition, which is subject to appropriate regulatory approvals and other closing conditions, is expected to close in the fall.

The other notable source of strength is Nortel, which is bouncing back a bit today after Microsoft made some positive comments about its results. Nortel is 3.3% higher on volume of 10.5 million shares. The renewed optimism for techs is also boosting Celestica and Sierra Wireless, but it is doing nothing to support JDS Uniphase, Zarlink Semi and Geac Computer, all of whom are sliding notably.

A couple of other names are making some news driven gain too. Westport Innovations is up 23.5% in active trading, on news that its low-emissions natural gas engine has been selected by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of Los Angeles county for an order of up to 600 buses.

MDC Corp. is 4% higher on news that it has agreed to sell an additional 2,964,000 units of Custom Direct Income Fund for gross proceeds of $29.64 million. The sale will be completed by way of a private placement undewritten by a syndicate led by CIBC World Markets Inc. and TD Securities Inc., which includes Scotia Capital Inc., BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., National Bank Financial Inc. and Griffiths McBurney & Partners. Proceeds received by MDC from this offering will be used for general corporate purposes.

Other gainers include Neurochem, Cott, and paper firms, Abitibi, Domtar, Norske Skog and Tembec.

The downside is a mixed bag, with weakness in names such as Biovail, Bombardier, Falconbridge, Canadian Tire, Shiningbank Energy Income Fund and Davis + Henderson Income Fund.

Financial issues are modestly lower, despite continued gains in Great-West Life. But, there is weakness in Royal Bank.

In earnings news, Mitec Telecom reported a $20.2 million loss in 2003.

In New York, stocks have had a choppy, lazy session on mixed economic and corporate news. At midday, the Dow Jones industrial average is up 38 points at 9,089. The S&P 500 has gained two ticks to 984. The Nasdaq composite index is down just a point at 1,697.

The S&P/TSX Venture index is more or less unchanged at 1,109, with volume light at 12.7 million shares. The top trader on this lazy day is On-Track Learning Systems, with is down 2¢ to 1¢ on 581,000 shares.