Stocks are weak in a light session today. Most traders seem to be keeping their powder dry this morning in anticipation of tomorrow’s rate action by the U.S. Federal Reserve Board. At midday, the TSE is down 54 points to 7,969.

Volume is soft at 62.2 million shares. Down volume is running at almost twice the rate of up volume, but the split between buyers and sellers is about even.

Sectors are also split evenly. The industrials are down heavily, off about 2.75%. But the slides in other groups, such as golds and financials, are minor. The upside is also weak, with some limited gains in pipelines, real estate and media stocks.

The big loser today is Nortel Networks. It is down about 5.25% on 4.9 million shares. The stock is suffering continued fallout from the apparent management turmoil at the firm, but there is also a general bearishness towards techs.

Nortel is joined on the downside by notable tech names such as Pivotal Corp., Sierra Wireless, Open Text, Celestica, C-MAC and Descartes Systems. Other losers include old economy names such as Inco, Sherritt, Gulf Canada and Kinross Gold.

Axcan Pharma is down 65¢ to $16.85 on news that the firm has entered an agreement to sell 3 million new common shares at $17 per share. Gross proceeds of this transaction will be $51 million. The deal is being handled by a syndicate of underwriters led by National Bank Financial Inc. The offering is expected to close on May 31.

Today’s upside is a mixed bag. 360networks is up 7% in active trading. Other winners include names such as Ultra Petroleum, Inscape, Tesco, Chieftain, Zenon, Boralex, Barrington Petroleum, Burlington Resources and QLT.

In New York, the trading action is also light and the attitude is negative. At midday, the Dow Jones industrial average is down five points to 10,816. The Nasdaq is weaker, off 35 points to 2,073. The S&P 500 has dropped three points to 1,242.

Markets appear to be waiting for the Fed’s decision. Fed funds futures are now placing the probability of a 50 basis point rate cut at 66%. Renewed hope for the bigger cut came after industrial production and capacity utilization numbers came in more or less as expected, although previous numbers were revised downward and the numbers indicated continued weakness.

The CDNX is also down. It is off 1.5 points at midday to 3,175. Volume is strong at 23.6 million shares. Techs are the weak spot, with miners and oils making gains. Magistral Biotech is the hot trader of the day in its debut. The stock is up 90% to 19¢ on 3.1 million shares.