Markets opened on a down note this morning. At midday, the Toronto Stock Exchange 300 composite index is down 93 points to 8028. Volume is a little light at 64
million shares. Declining issues outnumber advancing issues 5 to 4.

Apart from minor resistance among the merchandisers every sub-indice on the TSE is down. A much higher than expected U.S. Producer Price Index report, released this morning, coupled with higher than expected retail sales, has dashed the prospect of a dramatic interest rate cut. Traders appear to
have turned negative, primarily on that news. The industrials are particularly weak, as are miners, financials and consumer stocks.

Nortel Networks is leading the way down. It’s off 4.4% on 3.8 million shares traded. Clarence Chandran, Nortel’s chief  operating  officer, has resigned effective immediately to focus on rehab from a stabbing injury he suffered back in 1997. Chandran was tipped as CEO John Roth’s successor, and with Roth set to retire next April, the firm has begun a search for a new CEO.

The biggest losers on the TSE are a broad cross-section of firms though, including QLT, Barrington Petroleum, Zi Corp., Hub International, Cognos, 724 Solutions, and Sun Life.

Regional Cablesystems is down about 4%, after it announced a deal to acquire Community Cable Ltd. and Andromeda Cablevision Ltd., which are cable systems in Newfoundland. The total purchase price of the transaction is $14.5 million, $4 million in cash, with the balance in common shares of Regional.

The upside is pretty much from the old economy. Names making modest gains include Gulf Canada, Sherritt, Nexfor, TVX Gold, Storm Energy, Goldcorp, Hurricane Hydrocarbons, Four Seasons, West Fraser Timber, Finning and BioChem Pharma.

In other business news, Carma Financial Services has signed a letter of intent to acquire a private customer relationship management company for $4.4 million, including $1.5 million which is subject to performance requirements of the target company. The transaction is expected to be accretive to Carma’s 2002 earnings.

In New York, the same situation prevails. Stocks are weak in weak volume on the economic news. The Dow Jones industrial index is off 113 points to 10798. The NASDAQ composite index is down 22
points to 2107. The S&P has dropped 11 points to 1245.

The CDNX is the only market resisting the slide today. It’s up four points to 3169. Volume is strong there at 21.8 million shares. Oils and techs are strong, but miners are weak. Omax Resources Ltd is the top trader, down 23% to 10¢ on 2.3 million shares.