North American markets are taking divergent paths today. Canadian markets are posts gains, while U.S. indexes are generally weaker. American traders are nervously selling on fears of global conflict. In Canada, the run up in gold prices above US$330 an ounce is boosting stocks.

The S&P/TSX index is up 35 points to 6623. Volume is strong at 130.5 million shares, with the buying ahead of the selling by a margin of more than five to one. Market breadth is also decisively bullish, with winners outnumbering losers by five to four.

The materials sector is leading the way. It’s up almost 2% at midday. Financials, energy and golds are also strong. On the downside, health care stocks,industrials and diversifieds are all sliding.

Nortel Networks continues to provide most of the volume, gaining 5% on 30.2 million shares traded. But, there is weakness in other popular tech stocks such as Zarlink Semi and Ballard Power. The banks are experiencing robust gains on strong volume. TD Bank and Scotiabank are each up about 2% in active trading. CIBC has gained about 2% too, albeit on weaker volume. Royal Bank is modestly higher too. Power Financial is down notably.

There is major strength in the golds too today, with Barrick up by almost 4%. Placer Dome has added 3.5%. And, there are big gains in Kinross,Cambior, Echo Bay Mines, Glamis, Goldcorp, Bema, IAMgold and Eldorado Gold.

Fording is also giving the market some strong support, gaining 1.7% to $33.20 on strong volume of 1.3 million shares on news that suitors Sherritt and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan are boosting their offer for the firm. They will offer Fording shareholders $35.00 cash per share, subject to a maximum of $850 million, or one unit in a new income trust focused on metallurgical coal to be known as Canadian Coal Trust. The trust would combine the coal assets of Fording; coal assets and port facilities owned by a joint venture of Sherritt and Teachers’; and the industrial mineral assets of Fording.

In other business news, Canadian Tire is increasing its 2002 earnings forecast to a range of $2.50 to $2.57 per share compared with the previous estimate of $2.42 to $2.47 per share. The corporation has increased its earnings forecast as a result of the positive impact of operational factors and does not anticipate any additional non-operational gains to contribute to the increase in forecasted earnings.

On the downside, there is weakness in a broad selection of names such as Teck, Slater Steel, Air Canada, Biovail, Shaw Communications and CanWest Global.

In New York, markets are lower despite some generally supportive economic data. Traders are unnerved however by geopolitical uncertainty, including higher tensions with North Korea, talk that Al Qaeda may have acquired a chemical weapon from Iraq, and news of a U.S. smallpox vaccination plan.

The Dow JOnes industrial index is down 76 points after a choppy trading session, leaving it at 8513. The S&P 500 is down seven points to 897. The Nasdaq composite index is five points lower at 1392.

The S&P/TSX Venture index is stronger at midday, gaining eight points to
973. Volume remains strong there too, at 20.7 million shares. The top trader on the day is New Blue Ribbon Resources, up a penny to 2¢ on 1.4 million shares.