Stocks are jumping today, despite low trading volume. Stocks are up across the board following an early rally in Japan. The S&P/TSX index is 46 points higher at midday to 8,394.

Traders are acting on the belief that oil price pressures will ease as OPEC gets serious about boosting production.

In today’s economic news, Canadian building permits data blew away expectations, confirming that this area of economic strength remains in tact. Traders are looking toward a rate decision tomorrow. No one expects a move, but there is some debate about how hawkish the accompanying policy statement may be

Toronto volume is very weak though, perhaps a symptom of summer, with just 78.4 million shares traded. Buying action is doubling the selling action. But, market breadth is quite close to even.

Most sectors are higher today, led by core sectors such as miners, energy, gold and materials. Financials are strong too. Telecoms and utilities are weak, as are biotechs.

Core companies are joining a general rally today, with names such as Alcan, Cameco, Inco, Teck, CN and CP Rail all higher.

The golds are strong, too, as M&A action continues to swirl around that sector. Barrick is up about 1% on more fundamental trades, but there is lots of buying in smaller names such as Guyana Goldfields, Bolivar Gold, Cambior, and Northern Orion Resources are all jumping as Wheaton River Minerals spurns the latest takeover offer from Coeur d’Alene Mines. Traders seem to be speculating that the firm could give upon this deal and look elsewhere for an acquisition. Wheaton River continues to recommend its planned friendly merger with Iamgold.

M&A action is also weighing on Manitoba Telecom, which is leading that sector down with a 2.5% slide as it acquires Allstream.

Financial stocks are generally higher, led by a 1% gain in Scotiabank. CIBC, Manulife and Sun Life are all stronger, too.

Techs are making some gains, led by a 2% gain in Nortel. Zarlink Semi is up 4.5%, and Sierra Wireless is more than 5% higher. However, Research in Motion is weaker.

CAE is rallying after firm reported that it has won a contract to train pilots of European low-fare carrier easyJet on the Airbus A320 family for a minimum of seven years. The value of the agreement is expected to be in the range of $40 million to $60 million.

On the downside, there’s weakness in Bombardier once again. Ivanhoe Mines is sliding, as is Blackrock Ventures and Star Point Energy.

AEterna Zentaris Inc. is down more than 6% after it released final results from a recently completed phase I trial evaluating one of its anti-cancer drugs.

Many biotechs are also releasing clinical trial results at a big biotech conference. Biomira Inc. for one, is down after it reported that the development and commercialization rights to the therapeutic cancer vaccine, Theratope, will be returned to Biomira by Merck. Merck decided not to pursue Theratope because additional trials are likely to be required to support registration and it, no longer meets Merck’s commercial timetable for a near-term product launch.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc. has agreed to sell the Fairmont Kea Lani Maui to Host Marriott Corporation for $355 million. The resort will continue to be known as the Fairmont Kea Lani Maui and will be managed by Fairmont under the existing long-term management contract. The transaction is expected to close in August.

Thomson Corp. says it is seeking potential buyers for its Thomson Media group. Thomson has retained Morgan Stanley to be its financial adviser on the sale and expects to complete the sale of the businesses later this year.

Novartis AG, Switzerland’s largest pharmaceutical company, said it will buy Canadian generic drugmaker Sabex Holdings Ltd. for $565 million in cash.

Bain Capital is reportedly nearing an agreement to acquire Loews Cineplex Entertainment Inc. from Onex Corp. and private equity firm Oaktree Capital Management., according to the Wall Street Journal. The deal would be valued at approximately US$1.5 billion, with Bain leading an investor syndicate that also includes The Carlyle Group and Spectrum Equity Partners.

In New York, stocks are powering higher on the latest strong economic outlook, and M&A action, including a big deal in the casino business. The Dow Jones industrial average is up 94 points at midday to 10,337. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index has added 23 ticks to 2,001.