stocks in toronto began the week in positive territory bolstered by progress in the us to raise the governments debt ceiling gains were broad in midday trading led by the energy and transportation sectors which more than offset weakness among technology shares markets in the us were closed for a public holiday canadas sptsx composite index was 02 higher at 1995850 while the bluechip sptsx 60 was ahead 02 at 120110 the big banks continued to notch gains in the wake of their secondquarters financial results last week with torontodominion bank up 1 at c7904 and bank of nova scotia and royal bank of canada each ahead 05 to c6716 and c12372 respectively canadian western bank was 48 stronger at c2410 recovering from a drop of 59 on friday after the banks secondquarter earnings fell short of market expectations thanks in part to margin pressure and higherthananticipated expenses fire  flower was 45 lower at c047 after the cannabis retailer said it had hired a financial advisor to assist it with reviewing strategic options including alternatives for financing