By James Langton

(April 17 – 13:00 ET) – Markets have had a choppy day, digesting the cross-currents of good economic news and poor corporate results. An anticipated 25 basis point rate cut has helped in Canada, as has news of low inflation in the United States. But profit worries in the wake of Cisco Systems warning still has traders cautious.

The TSE 300 opened down, then spiked into positive territory but is down a bit at midday. The TSE 300 is off 16 points to 7,774. Volume is average at 72 million shares, split evenly between buyers and sellers. Losers hold a slight edge over winners.

On a sector basis the even split tone is prevailing, too. Seven of the TSE’s 14 sub-indices are up, seven are down. The industrials, gold and media stocks are leading the sellers. The buying is coming in the energy and consumer sectors. Most of the other moves are minor.

Nortel Networks is the top trader, but it is not really going anywhere, down just 12¢ on 7 million shares. In fact the stock is resisting the Cisco effect surprisingly well. Other tech names such as Alcatel, 724 Solutions and Pivotal are slumping harder. Other losers include an eclectic group of stocks such as Cott, Shaw Industries, Toromont, Canada Southern Petroleum, Placer Dome and MDC.

A similarly diverse group is leading the winners, including miners such as Teck, North American Palladium, TVX Gold and Asbestos Corp. Other winners include techs such as Sierra Wireless, Exfo Electro, Aastra, QLT, and BCE Emergis.

The loser of the day is competitive local exchange carrier AXXENT Inc., down 83% to just 5¢, after it announced that it only has enough cash to last until the end of May and will likely seek bankruptcy protection. The firm’s financial advisors have failed to find financing or a buyer for the firm.

Blue chip Alcan Inc. is down a bit in active trading after it reported net income of 42¢ a share for the first quarter, compared to 78¢ a share last year. It also announced that Suresh Thadhani, its chief financial officer, will retire from the company this summer. Alcan’s chief executive Jacques Bougie resigned unexpectedly in January.

In other news, Talisman Energy Inc. says it has made a significant new oil discovery adjacent to its Piper field in the North Sea. Preliminary estimates suggest reserves of between 20 million and 50 million barrels.

Markets have been similarly choppy on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average is down 32 points to 10,126. The Nasdaq composite index is off 11 points to 1,899. The S&P 500 is up one tick to 1,181. The crosswinds of weak profits and benign economics is keeping the markets flat.

The CDNX is down today, too, off nine points to 2,978. Volume is strong at 19.7 million shares. Mines and techs are down, but oils are up. Wavve TeleCommunications is the top trader, down 16% to 27¢ on 2.9 million shares.