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Mixed messages from the markets on Monday morning still propelled most Ottawa stocks higher than their prices before the holiday break.

As Israeli aircraft hammered the Gaza Strip on Monday in a bid to break down Hamas, oil rose to nearly $40 a barrel and took the TSX Venture Exchange along for the ride.

Around 11 a.m., the index reached 725.14 points, 4.04 per cent or 28.14 points higher than when the markets closed for the holidays.

Meanwhile, the American markets were down as Rohm & Hass Co. (NYSE:ROH) turned down a joint venture with Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE:DOW) sending stock prices skidding for both companies.

But the Ottawa-based stocks – at least, those who were trading during the Monday after the holidays – were mostly coming up positive.

Troubled Allen-Vanguard Corp. (TSX:VRS) was at 23 cents a share, 9.52 per cent or two cents higher than it was first thing in the morning.

Nortel Networks Corp. (TSX:NT) jumped 4.62 per cent to sit at 34 cents a share, while San Anton Resource Corp. (TSN:SNN) jumped 31.6 per cent – or six cents – for a value of 25 cents a share.

Meanwhile, the country's largest banks – Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO), Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS) and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TSX:CM) – also saw small gains Monday morning, with the exception of Toronto Dominion Bank (TSX:TD).

Among the other multinational companies with a significant Ottawa presence, graphic software giant Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) fell 77 cents to reach $20.31 a share, and telecommunications giant BCE Inc. (TSX-V:BCE) sat at $23.15 after falling 10 cents in morning trading.