By Jeff Sanford

(June 30 – 17:30 ET) – With gorgeous weather and a holiday weekend in the offing, the TSE was quiet this afternoon. Volume during today’s trading session was extremely light with only 98 million shares trading. Nevertheless, the TSE 300 composite index finished up 120.35 points at 10,195.50. Advancing issues outpaced decliners 566 to 490, with 288 issues remaining unchanged.

The little action that did take place was dominated by Nortel. It gained a $1.80 to close the day at $102.70. Research in Motion also had a good day, putting on $8.65 to bring its price to $66.70.

Nine sub-indices finished the day up. Utilities, industrial products, gold and consumer products were the big advancers. On the down side financials, communications, oil, and pipelines were off slightly, each dropping less than 1%.

The CDNX was also up on the day. It finished up 9.43 points at 3,458.67 for the day.

The Canadian dollar ended the day up slightly from yesterday’s close, at US67.53¢.

It was similar story in the U.S. where all major markets finished in the black. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 49.85 points to close at 104,47.89.10 while the NASDAQ composite index gained 88.87 points to finish at 3,966.10. Some of the biggest movers were Proctor & Gamble, McDonalds and General Electric. Much of the action on the Dow came in the last half an hour of trading.