Stocks are little changed at midday as a big U.S. bank merger failed to overcome investors’ cautiousness amid a lack of major economic or earnings news.

Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index is ahead 18.94 points at 8,486.94. Trading volume is light at just over 75 million shares.

The major news in Toronto concerns Onex Corp. Together with Oaktree Capital management, Onex announced that Loews Cineplex, the world’s third-largest cinema chain, is being sold for $2 billion. The buyer is a U.S. corporation formed by Bain Capital, the Carlyle Group and Spectrum Equity Investors.

Onex shares are up $1.19 to $16.70.

Nortel Networks shares are still enjoying a boost after Nortel chief Bill Owens met with Cisco Systems head John Chambers last Thursday, with both willing to consider a partnership. Nortel shares climbed 18¢ to $6.29.

Nortel’s advances has the TSX information technology index up 1.34%

The day losers include gold stocks, off 1.29%, and the diversified metals and mining sector, down 1.15%.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index is up 1.70 points to 1,563.35.

U.S. banking giant Wachovia Corp. is buying competitor SouthTrust Corp. in a deal valued at US$14.3 billion, the companies said today. The combination will create the largest bank in the southeastern U.S.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average is up 7.27 points to 10,423.68. The S&P 500 has edged up 1.52 points to 1,136.54. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index has added 5.06 points to 1,991.79.

Crude oil prices retreated on the New York Mercantile Exchange. July crude prices eased US19¢ to US$38.56 a barrel.

Many investors are hesitant to place large orders ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy-setting meeting on June 29-30.

Wall Street widely expects the Fed will start a tightening cycle by raising interest rates by one-quarter of a percentage point at the end of the meeting in a bid to curb inflation.

No major U.S. economic data is expected until Thursday when durable goods orders and weekly jobless claims data are released.