At mid-day the TSE was up 202 points, while the CDNX rose 53. The Dow continued its slump, slipping another 16 points. The Nasdaq was up 62 points.
Seagram climbed $6.40 to $87.85 at the open after Newsweek magazine online said the company is in takeover talks with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
The Toronto Stock Exchange 300 Index was up 188.90 points or 2.07 percent to 9317.87, with 17.5 million shares trading hands worth over $260 million. Upward momentum was strong with advancing stocks outpacing decliners 451 to 235 and another 223 issues unchanged.
Several local small caps were posting dramatic gains in morning trade. Plaintree led the way surging ahead by 27 per cent after announcing a third quarter that saw a drop in earnings and a loss of 2 cents per share.
Newsys Solutions also surged, this time on news it had secured $6.8 million in financing from Yorkton Securities. It was also up 27 per cent, to $4.45.
AIT was also above the 10 per cent gain mark, adding 11 per cent to $2.35.
Other gainers included JDS Uniphase ($8.05), Nortel ($5.50), BCE ($4.55), Entrust ($1.50), and Cognos ($1.50).
GSI Lumonics saw its value shed as profit takers moved in for a little bit of skimming. The stock was down $1.70 to $34.05.
Other losers included WorldHeart (60 cents), Corel (35 cents), Calian (20 cents), and Linmor (18 cents).
Europe's major markets extended their gains Wednesday morning, pushed higher by strong earnings reports and impressive gains by Wall Street's three leading gauges Tuesday.
London's benchmark gauge, the FTSE 100, rose 1.7 per cent, or 107 points, to 6,340.0, nearly matching its 133-point advance in Tuesday's session, as oil major BP Amoco turned in a second straight sparkling performance. In Paris, the CAC 40 climbed 1.3 per cent, or 77 points, to 6,340.0, extending its 1.45 per cent rally Tuesday, while the electronically traded Xetra Dax gained 1.3 per cent to 7,746.35 and the SMI in Zurich remained half a per cent higher, at 6,943.6.
The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader gauge of regional buying and selling trends, added 0.9 per cent to 1,593.86, led by a 7.5-per cent rally in its healthcare segment, and gains of more than 4 per cent in both its electronics and computer sub-indexes.
In Asia the Nikkei Average of 225 leading shares finished up 122.15 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 20,081.67, a 31-month high, inspired by a broad rally across Wall Street's three leading indexes.
In Hong Kong the leading Hang Seng index closed down 1.9 per cent, or 325.85 points at 16,843.59, hurt by losses in C& W HKT and anchor stock China Telecom.
