Stocks are slogging through a mixed session Thursday, with the S&P/TSX composite index up four points to 7,108.

Toronto volume is very heavy at 159 million shares, with buying leading the selling by an 18:13 margin. Market breadth is quite evenly split, with winners holding a modest 16:15 edge over winners.

There is an even split between the TSX sectors, too, with strong gains in the gold group, up about 2%. There are more modest gains in sectors such as materials, energy and industrials.

The weakness today resides in health care, financials and real estate.

The strength in golds is coming through gains in names such as Placer Dome and Kinross. Smaller players are stronger too, with Bema Gold up almost 8% in heavy trading.

Agnico Eagle has gained 4% after it issued news of expansion plans at one of its mines, while Barrick reportedly has Australian government approval for a new mine.

EnCana is leading energy stocks higher, with a 1% gain in active trading. There is also strength in Ivanhoe Energy, Golden Star Resources and First Calgary Petroleums. But, Canadian Natural Resources is weaker.

Nortel is posting a solid 1.7% gain in active trading. BCE is up 1.4%. Telesystem International has gained a healthy 24%. But, AT&T Canada and Sierra Wireless are weaker.

Biotechs are the real weak spot once again, as traders pullback on the sector a bit. Biovail is down 1.7% in active trading, and there is weakness in ID Biomedical, and QLT.

CP Rail is backing off recent gains too, down 0.5%. But Air Canada is up another 5%. Intrawest and Paramount Energy is down, too.

Financials remain active traders, as U.S. rate watchers try to puzzle out the Fed’s next move, and stronger U.S. brokerage earnings are released. Bank of Montreal is down 1%, Scotia is a bit lower, as is CIBC. Sun Life is stronger.

The big corporate news of the day is news that Domtar and Tembec are hooking up by combining their lumber businesses to cut costs. Domtar is up 3.5% in heavy trading on the news. Tembec shareholders are even happier, bidding it 6% higher. Quebecor has also received a 6% boost in strong trading.

In other news, MDS has filed for another 5% buyback.

In the U.S., stocks opened lower on economic news, and they’ve been stuck in negative territory all day. The Dow Jones industrial average is is down 83 points at midday to 9,210. The S&P 500 has dropped 10 points to sit at 1,000. Nasdaq has backed off by 14 points to 1,663.

The S&P/TSX Venture index is also down two points to 1,114. Volume is only average in the small caps at 118.9 million shares. Cadero Resource Corp. is the day’s top trader, plunging 76¢ to 85¢ on 1.4 million shares.