Stocks opened lower this morning and wrestled up into positive territory, but at midday they are selling off again. The Toronto Stock Exchange 300 is currently down about 38 points to 7665. Volume is average at about 73.2 million shares, with sellers holding a three to one edge over buyers. Market breadth is a little more even, but still negative, with losers outnumbering winners about three to two.

Earnings warnings are really the order of the day, with warnings in American and European tech stocks sending that sector lower. A warning from Potash Corp. is also pushing the chemicals group down. Eight of the TSE’s 14 groups are down, with conglomerates, paper stocks and financials are holding the fort for the buyers.

Nortel Networks continues to lead the way down. It has dropped another 6% today to a little over $12 on more than 7 million shares. Profit concerns among the techs are hitting the beleaguered networking giant again today.

The rest of the tech group is getting slugged today too, with Mosaid, JDS Uniphase, Celestica, Alcatel and Cryptologic all sliding in response.

The other big confessor, Potash, is down about 4.5% in active trading today. Profit takers seem to be taking shots at recent gainers too, so Bombardier, Talisman Energy, Chieftain, Barrick, Slater Steel and Aeterna are all down too.

The upside is notable for the leadership of the banks. Idle merger chatter seems to be the only reason for the move. Bank of Nova Scotia is leading the way higher, up 1.7% in active trading, pulling the whole banking group up about 0.7%.

The other obvious gainers today are a mixed bag. Techs such as BCE Emergis, Siebel and Ballard Power are still finding some running room. But there are gains in old economy names also, such as TVX Gold, Maverick Tube, CanWest Global and Canada Southern Petroleum.

In business news, CAE has declared a 2:1 stock split of its outstanding common shares. It also announced plans to increase its annual dividend by 20% to 24¢ per share from 2¢ per share. The planned dividend increase will be effective commencing with the regular quarterly dividend payable at the end of September, 2001.

The CDNX is joining the TSE on the downside. It’s off 21 points to 3254. Volume is robust at 18.5 million shares. Techs are leading the way down again, off about 1%. But there are also minor slides in miners and oils too. Elite Capital Corp is the top trader in its market debut, gaining 125% to 47¢ on more than 2 million shares.

In New York, stocks also opened down, rallied strongly and sold off, but at midday they are clinging to slight gains. The Dow Jones industrial average is up three points to 10600. The NASDAQ composite index has gained eight points to 2001. The S&P is up four points to 1217. While traders are encouraged by the rally in the face of poor news, the market can’t seem to gather much momentum in either direction at this point.