Stocks are mixed as traders digest today’s brew of political, economic and company-specific news. At midday, the S&P/TSX composite index is down 15 points to 8,360.

Earlier today, OPEC agreed to raise its crude oil production ceiling by two million barrels a day next month in a bid to bring down uncomfortably high prices, oil ministers said. The group also agreed to raise the target by an additional 500,000 barrels a day in August if necessary, they said.

In economic news, Statistics Canada reported that corporate profits rose by a 26% annualized pace in the first quarter. This is generally seen as good news.

In the U.S., it was reported that non-farm productivity rose by 3.8% in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, the non-manufacturing ISM survey was reported a bit lower in May. And, April factory orders were reported 1.7% lower.

Toronto volume remains on the weak side at 111.6 million shares, with the buying action only slightly ahead of the selling. Market breadth is notably negative, however, as losers outnumber winners by a margin of 29: 22.

On a sector basis, there’s weakness in golds, energy, materials, biotechs and real estate. This is contrasted by strength in industrials, miners and financials.

Nortel is continuing its slump today, down another 1.5%. There is also noticeable weakness in Research in Motion, which has lost about 3.5% as of midday. Hip Interactive and MDS are weak, too.

EnCana is leading energy stocks lower, as traders try to sort out the commodity’s future. It is down 0.7%. There is also selling in Petro Canada and Lightning Energy.

Golds are following that selling in energy, with Barrick down about 1.5%. Pan American Silver is lower, as is Crystallex. Alcan is down too

Patheon is weighing on the biotech group, dropping more than 9% on disappointing earnings results. It reported second quarter net earnings were $3.1 million, down from $4.8 million in the period a year ago.

News is also driving some of the market’s biggest winners. Notably, Allstream is up 3.3% on news that an Ontario court has thrown out Bell Canada’s move to block its sale to Manitoba Telecom. ManTel is up 1.3%.

Wheaton River is up on news that Coeur d’Alene Mines has raised its takeover offer for the firm by $285 million, or 50¢ per share, and shareholders can choose a mix of cash, stock and notes.

Also on the upside, there are gains in names such as Abitibi, Cameco, Cott, Masonite International, YM Biosciences, Cascades and Agrium.

In earnings news, Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. said that its net losses for the three months ended December 31, were $151.7 million, compared with $26 million in net losses in the same period last year.

In New York, stocks have been gyrating around its opening level all day, as traders digest the OPEC announcement and try to forecast tomorrow’s May jobs numbers. At midday, the Dow Jones industrial average is up 14 ticks to 10,277. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index has dropped eight points however to 1,981.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index is continuing its slump, down five points to 1,588. Volume is lower once again there, with just 21 million shares traded. The action is being led by Consolidated Ecoprogress Technology, which has soared 16.5¢ to 43.5¢ on 1.4 million shares traded on news that its products are being sold by Wal-Mart.