Markets are drifting lower Thursday as traders react to stock-specific news. At midday the S&P/TSX composite index has dropped 22 points to 6,629.

Volume is hefty at 107 million shares, with the selling double the buying. Market breadth is also negative with losers outnumbering winners by a 25:21 margin.

The techs are leading the way lower with a 2% selloff. There is also selling pressure in industrials, diversifieds and telecoms. Golds are leading the opposition to this, up 2.5%. Materials and health care names are also stronger.

Nortel is powering the tech slide, down 3.3% on 14.8 million shares. Creo and Trojan Tech are down too. Research in Motion is up a little in active trading.

Other notable losers include Bombardier, which is down 5.6% in heavy trading of 5.7 million shares. Onex is down 3.3%. There is also weakness in BCE, Air Canada, AT&T and Southwestern Resources.

Barrick is driving gold stocks higher, as traders react to its big buyback plans, announced yesterday. It is up 2.6% in heavy trading. Many of the other golds are following along, with Placer Dome up 2%, and gains in Kinross, Glamis and Iamgold.

The financials remain active traders, with Scotia down 0.5%. Royal Bank is down a bit, and Fairfax has dropped another 3.4%.

EnCana is up a little on news that it earned $1.25 billion in the first quarter of 2003.

There is also strength in Biovail, CAE, Weston, and Trizec.

In other earnings news, Extendicare has released net earnings of $17.9 million in the first quarter, up from net earnings of $5.9 million for the same period in, 2002. Results for the 2003 first quarter included a gain on asset disposal of $1.1 million and non-recurring income from Crown Life of $9.4 million.

Quebecor reported its net income was $12.5 million in the first quarter of 2003, compared with $23.4 million in the first quarter of 2002.

Xenos reported a fourth consecutive quarter of profitability, producing net earnings of $46,000 compared with a net loss of $206,000 for the second quarter of fiscal 2002.

Hydrogenics’s first quarter net loss was $2.4 million, compared with a net loss of $5 million for the first quarter 2002.

And in other business news, Westport Innovations reports that Stephen Anderson will step down as vice-president, finance, and chief financial officer, and Wade Nesmith has stepped down as president and managing director, Westport Europe. Both will provide consulting services to ensure an orderly transition of their responsibilities.

In the U.S., market indices and averages are lower, continuing a weaker trend that began in Europe earlier today. The Dow Jones industrial average is off 69 points at 8492. The S&P 500 has dropped eight points to 922. The Nasdaq composite index is down 14 points to 1,493.

The small caps make the selloff unanimous. The S&P/TSX Venture index is down four points to 1,057. Volume is on the light side at 15.3 million shares. New Shoshoni Ventures is the day’s top trader, down 2¢ to 65¢ on 655,000 shares.