Markets are weak at midday today. Energy and gold stocks are surrendering recent gains. The Toronto Stock Exchange 300 composite index is down 41 points, so far, to 7853. Volume is average at 83 million shares, with selling doubling the buying action. Market breadth is also notably bearish, with losers outnumbering winners by 19:13.

Energy plays are giving back much of yesterday’s positive price action Today. They’re down 1.4%. Golds are in the same boat, dropping more than 2% today. There’s also broad weakness in techs, miners and real estate. Financials are down a little, too. But there is some resistance in telecoms and consumer stocks.

As for individual stocks, Barrick is down 2.3% and Placer Dome has fallen 2.8%. Also feeling the battering ram is Agnico Eagle, Canadian Natural Resources, Hurricane Hydrocarbons, Ensign Resource Services, Precision Drilling and Ballard Power. CN and Alcan are down, too.

The techs are weak, today, with Celestica and Nortel Networks down 2.4% and 2.8% respectively. Open Text is off 6%. Research in Motion is down too.

BCE continues to get some support from bargain hunters. It’s up just 7¢ on strong volume of 1.6 million shares.

Some of the smaller financials are gaining today, although the sector is down overall. But, Investors Group, E-L Financial and Hub International are all up. There are also gains in Cott, Ryan Energy Technologies, Manitoba Tel, Trojan Tech, CoolBrands and CGI.

The S&P/CDNX Composite Index is down a little today, too. It’s off one point to 1,184. Volume is average at 20 million shares. Touchstone Resources is leading the trading. It’s up 7.5% to an even $1.00 on 1.3 million shares.

In New York, markets opened up but traders lost their nerve and sent stocks sliding again. The Dow Jones industrial index is down 85 points to 10228. The NASDAQ composite index has dropped 21 ticks to 1783. The S&P is down another 10 ticks to 1127.