Stocks are fighting to a draw today, with mixed economic signals leaving the S&P/TSX index to sit nearly unchanged at 6,370 at midday.

Volume is on the light side at 79.4 million shares, with the selling outweighing the buying by about 21:13. Market breadth is very slightly bullish however, with winners trumping losers 22:21.

TSX sectors are split down the middle, too, with weakness coming in techs, telecoms, energy and financials. At the same time, there is strength in golds, health care, and materials. Mixed U.S. numbers on producer price inflation, consumer confidence and industrial production have the markets in limbo.

Nortel Networks is trading heavily, down 1.7% on 21 million shares traded. There is also weakness in Telus, Celestica and Ballard Power.

Energy stocks are pretty active today, with Canadian Natural Resources leading the way down, dropping 1.5% in active trading. Niko Resources and Energy Savings Income Fund are weak. TransCanada Pipelines, however, is up.

Scotiabank is leading the financials down, dropping 1.6% in active trading. Sun Life Financial is down 2.6%, pushing the insurers lower. Fairfax Financial is down about the same amount. TD Bank is bucking the trend, with a modest gain.

On the upside, there is strength in takeover target, Fording. There are also gains in CP Ships, Stelco, Agrium, Creo and Biovail. Kinross, Goldcorp, Meridian and Placer Dome are all higher.

In business news, Tembec generated a net loss of $16 million before unusual items in the fourth quarter, compared with net earnings of $4.9 million in the corresponding quarter in 2001, and a net loss of $3.9 million in the previous quarter. For the fiscal year it generated a net loss of $113.2 million before unusual items, compared with net earnings of $77.9 million in fiscal 2001.

Caribbean Utilities reported that its earnings for the past six months were $10,513,366 compared with $11,910,852 for the same period last year, representing a 11.7% decrease.

Goran Capital reported a net loss of $3,322,000, as compared with a net loss of $9,041,000 for the same quarter in 2001.

In New York, the economic crosswinds have had markets jumping back and forth in a volatile session. At midday, the bears are winning the struggle, with the Dow Jones industrial average down 71 points to 8,471. The S&P 500 has dropped eight ticks to 896. The Nasdaq is down 24 points to 1,388.

The Canadian small caps are little changed. The S&P/TSX Venture index is down less than a point to 945 at midday. Volume is average at 13 million shares. Hydromet Environmental is the top trader, down a penny to 3¢ on 737,000 shares.