Markets are weaker today, as profit worries grip traders.

At midday, the TSE 300 is down 58 points to 7,519.

Volume is light today at 69.3 million shares, although it might have been hampered by the U.S. government’s release of a videotape purported to confirm Al Qaeda’s involvement with the September 11 attacks. Trading slowed to a crawl in New York as the tapes were broadcast live for the first time.

Volume is favouring sellers over buyers by five to three. Losers outnumber winners by better than five to three.

Techs are leading the way down, after poor results from Ciena and a warning from Lucent spooked traders. Mines and software are also notably weak. There’s some strength in golds and utilities. Financials are mixed, with banks up and insurers down.

Nortel Networks is leading the tech slide today, down 7% on strong volume of almost 10 million shares. It is joined by notable weakness in names such as Celestica, Bell Canada International, Microcell, JDS Uniphase and Research in Motion.

There’s also weakness in financial firms, C.I. Fund Management and Fairfax Financial. The banks are gaining much of this action though, with Bank of Nova Scotia continuing to lead the way higher. Royal Bank, CIBC and Bank of Montreal are all up in active trading.

The other winners are mostly old economy blue chips. BCE, Bombardier and Westcoast Energy are all up on strong volume. Other gainers include CanWest, United Grain Growers, CP Ships and Domtar.

In corporate finance news, Inex Pharmaceuticals has closed its $43 million bought deal to an underwriting syndicate led by BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., and including Raymond James Ltd., RBC Dominion Securities Inc., Yorkton Securities Inc. and Dlouhy Merchant Group Inc.

Theratechnologies has successfully completed its $26 million deal to a group of underwriters led by Yorkton Securities Inc.

Also, Xenos Group reported net losses of $2.2 million for the fourth quarter, up from a $4.1 million loss last year. Annual losses totaled $8.9 million, down from $9.5 million last year.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average has languished on profit worries. At midday, it is down 63 points to 9,832. The Nasdaq composite has slipped back under 2,000, dropping 33 points to 1,978. The S&P 500 is down nine points to 1,128.

The CDNX is weaker today, too. The S&P/CDNX composite index is down two points to 995. Volume hasn’t suffered there though, it is very strong at 19.7 million shares. McCarthy Corp. plc is the top trader, gaining 75% to 14¢ on almost 5 million shares.