With capital markets in the U.S. and U.K. closed for holiday celebrations today, trading in Toronto is light. So far only 35.6 million shares have traded – about one quarter of the average midday volume.

While the volume is dreadful, the price action is impressive. The S&P/TSX index has jumped 50 points to 8397. The volume is certainly bullish, as buying action is more than double the selling. But, market breadth is about dead even. REITs are the only area that’s notably weak. Most sectors are essentially unchanged.

The energy group is up 2%. Golds are also seeing a bit of a flight to safety. Barrick is notably higher, as are smaller names such as Bema Gold. Techs and telecoms are up, too. Research in Motion is powering the tech group higher, gaining almost 3%.

With the commodity markets the total effect of the weekend attack on foreign oil industry workers in Saudi Arabia remain unknown. Meanwhile, stocks such as Canadian Natural Resources, EnCana, Talisman and Petrobank are all powering higher. CNR is up 3.8%. EnCana has jumped about 2.2%. There are also gains in First Calgary Petroleum, Duvernay Oil, Methanex, and Imperial Oil.

The banks are busy traders today, with Scotia gaining 1.3%. Royal and CIBC are up slightly, too. But, TD Bank is down 1%, and there is weakness in Bank of Montreal and Manulife Financial.

Bombardier has recovered 3.3% of its recent heavy sell off. Other gainers include Domtar, Abitibi and Transcontinental (the corporate parent of Investment Executive).

On the downside, Cameco is leading the way, dropping 2% on news that its deal to acquire a 25.2% interest in the South Texas power project looks to be dead.

The small caps are also subdued today. The S&P/TSX Venture Exchange is flat at midday, at 1602, with a scant 13.3 million shares traded. The top trader is Marksmen Resources, which is down 5¢ to 20¢ on 610,000 shares.

Notwithstanding the dearth of trading, there was some important economic data released in Canada today. March GDP growth was also impressive, up 0.7%.

First quarter GDP grew 2.4%, which was a bit above expectations. This a notable slowdown
from the previous quarter, however, economists say this is the result of a heavy inventory drawdown, rather than a lack of demand. They are anticipating strong second-quarter numbers and, therefore, possible rate hikes by the end of the year.