It was an up and down for Toronto stocks today. The TSE 300 opened slightly down this morning and seesawed through the session.

It recovered just before the final bell to finish up 13 points at 7,371.

The gain was mostly the result of a big 4.4% advance in the gold sub-index as investors worried about earnings season went looking for a safe harbour. Barrick Gold was up a strong 5.63% today to close at $23.45. Placer Dome advanced 4.61% to close at $15.90, and Kinross jumped 6.15% to $1.28.

The other big advance came from the transportation sub-index. It rose 2.3% today. Overall, nine of the TSE’s 14 sub-indices advanced. On the downside were financial services and the industrial products, but neither was off even a full percent.

Even though both are in desperate straits, Laidlaw and 360Networks continue to be heavily traded.

Among the winners today, Celestica climbed 3.67% to $65. Canadian National Railway rose 2.71% to close at $55.35 today.

Among the losers, Bank of Nova Scotia dipped 2.50% at $44.91. Bombardier dropped 2.65% to close at $22.38. Sherritt International was off 2.19% at $4.92, presumably in front of an upcoming White House decision on Helms Burton.

Volume was light today, with only 129 million shares trading. Market trend among individual issues was negative, with 569 declining and 422 advancing.

The CDNX dipped 19 points at 3,126 on volume of 34 million shares. Market trend was negative with 221 shares declining and only 174 advancing.

The loonie was also down today, dipping 0.15% to close at US65.64¢.

In New York, markets were quiet in front of earnings season with the Dow Jones industrial average finishing up 65 points at 10,241. The Nasdaq composite index added nine points to 1,072, and the S&P 500 slipped one point to 1,180.