Toronto stocks are continuing their rally today as traders shrug off weaker U.S. economic data. At midday, the S&P/TSX composite index is 28 points higher at 7,018.

Volume is light at just 88.6 million shares. With U.S. markets closing early today and closed all day tomorrow for Independence Day, many Canadian traders are heading for the exits early.

Volume favours buyers by a five to three margin. Market breadth is slightly negative though, as losers outnumber winners 47:45.

The strength is coming in consumer stocks, energy and financials, which are bouncing back from some recent weakness. There is minimal selling action, with the industrials weakest, down just 0.4%.

The banks are rallying today, led by a 1.7% gain in Royal Bank. Scotia is up about 1.2%. TD Bank is slightly weaker though. There is no major news in the sector, although RBC sold some mortgages and BMO announced a plan to open banking kiosks in 80 Sobeys stores.

The energy sector is getting a boost from heavy hitter, EnCana. There are also notable gains in Petrobank.

Duke Energy is slumping, as is Ultima Energy Trust and Trinidad Energy Services.

There is some active buying in the gold group, with Eldorado Gold leading the way, up 1.2% on heavy volume. Cambior, Bema Gold, and Minefinders are all up, too.

Other gainers include Air Canada, SouthernEra Resources, Microcell and Four Seasons.

Nortel is leading the techs down, dropping 1.7% in active trading. There is also selling in Rona, Terasen, CAE and SNC Lavalin.

In business news, Corel has received a reprieve from the Nasdaq. The company reports that its securities will remain listed on the Nasdaq National Market following the successful appeal of its de-listing notice before the Nasdaq listing qualifications panel.

In New York, trading was light Thursday ahead of the Independence Day weekend and ended three hours early. Stocks closed lower as investors were unnerved by a larger-than-expected jump in unemployment.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended a shortened trading session at its low point of the day, falling 72.63 to 9,070.21.

The broader market also retreated. The Nasdaq composite index fell 15.27 to 1,663.46. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index declined 8.05 to 985.70.

But the major indices and averages ended the week higher because of the buying that took place Tuesday and Wednesday. The Dow ended the week up 0.9%, while the Nasdaq climbed 2.4$ and the S&P rose 1%.

U.S. markets are closed Friday.

The S&P/TSX Venture index is siding with the U.S. markets, dropping a point at midday to sit at 1,111. Volume is average at 16.5 million shares. Venga Aerospace is the day’s top trader, up a penny to 3¢ on 1.4 million shares.