Stocks have moved modestly higher Monday in lack lustre trading session. At midday the S&P/TSX index is up by 15 points to 6,447.

Volume is very light at just 51.9 million shares, with the buying ahead of the selling by a nine to seven advantage. Market breadth is also bullish, as winners outnumber losers by nine to eight.

The war trade is unwinding a bit today. Golds are down 1.5%, and diversified stocks are down, too. But that’s more or less it for the downside.

There isn’t a lot of upside momentum though, as traders await a rate decision tomorrow and earnings news throughout the market. Nothing is up as much as 1%. There are gains in health care, industrials and telecoms.

The banks are among the most active traders, but their price moves reflect the general indifference of traders. Scotia is leading the volume, unchanged at midday. TD and Royal Bank are both active traders, but down a mere 0.1% each.

Fairfax is the biggest mover in the financial group, up 8.7% on its preliminary first quarter results. The firm said it will record a pretax gains of $140 million, primarily from the sale of bonds in the investment portfolios of its insurance and reinsurance companies.

There are also modest gains in names such as EnCana, BCE, Aliant, Fairmont, Magna, Uni-Select and MDC. Air Canada is bouncing back today, up better than 5%.

The downside is also a mixed bag, led by golds such as Glamis, Kinross and Placer Dome. But there is also weakness in Celestica, ATI, Cameco, Ballard Power, Canadian Tire, and Precision Drilling.

In M&A news, NCE Petrofund has entered into an agreement to purchase a diverse group of oil and gas producing properties. The purchase price for the property package is $66 million, subject to adjustment. The properties are located in all three western provinces.

In other corporate news, Paul Lamontagne will be stepping down as president and chief executive officer of Look Communications on May 14, “in order to pursue other opportunities”. Michael Cytrynbaum, chairman of the board of Look Communications, will act as interim CEO.

In New York, the rally is a little more dramatic, although the volume is similarly weak. The Dow is up 117 points though to 8,321. The S&P 500 has added 12 points to 880. The Nasdaq composite index is up 19 points to 1,377.

The small caps are going their own way today. The S&P/TSX Venture index is leading the way, down five points to 1,049. Volume is weak there too at 14.3 million shares. Spider Resources has resumed its position atop the leader board, down a penny to 13¢ on 768,500 shares traded.