Toronto stocks are posting a small gain in a mixed market Tuesday. At midday, the S&P/TSX index is up 15 points to 6,672.

Volume remains on the light side at 60.4 million shares, with buying far outweighing the selling by about three to one. Market breadth is more even, with winners leading losers by a 14:13 margin.

On a sector basis, there is strength in tech stocks, diversifieds, golds, health care, and materials. Real estate stocks and utilities are selling off a little.

There’s plenty of volume on the upside today, driven by the ongoing recovery in Bombardier. It is up another 2% on 4.4 million shares.

Royal Bank is also seeing a similar percentage gain on 1.5 million shares, after it reported strong third quarter earnings. The bank recorded net income of $722 million, up 66% from a year ago. Last year’s third quarter net income of $436 million had been reduced by $146 million due to special restructuring charges and writedowns. Excluding special items in last year’s third quarter, net income was up $140 million.

The strength in RBC is also spilling over to CIBC, TD and Bank of Montreal, which will also announce earnings soon. Manulife Financial is not as supportive, down 3.4% so far. Sun Life is down, too.

Other gainers today include a selection of techs and telecoms such as Zarlink Semi, Nortel Networks, Research in Motion and CAE. But Celestica, BCE, Open Text and Ballard Power are all lower.

QLT is higher, as is Teck, Axcan Pharma, Thomson and Hurricane Hydrocarbons. Petro Canada, Potash and Shaw Communications are also leading the way lower.

In New York, profit concerns have been depressing the markets all morning. At midday, the Dow remains down 138 points to 8,851. The S&P 500 has dropped 15 points to 934. The Nasdaq composite index is also down 20 points to 1,374.

The S&P/TSX Venture index is more or less flat today, down less than a full point at 1004. Volume remains weak at 8.5 million shares. Hydromet Environmental is the top trader, flat at 3¢ on 333,000 shares.