Stocks are down at Tuesday midday after U.S. consumer confidence was reported much weaker than expected. Traders are worried that the jobless U.S. recovery is getting to consumers who have been resilient throughout the downturn. Markets are also digesting a mixed bag of earnings news.

The S&P/TSX composite index is off 50 points to 7,234. Volume is average at 104.6 million shares, with the selling outpacing the buying by a 19:13 margin. Market breadth is also bearish, as losers outnumber winners 29:18.

Most sectors are seeing weakness on the U.S. data. Tech and real estate are the only real exceptions. On the downside, golds are off almost 3%. There is also weakness in materials, energy, industrials and financials.

Barrick is leading the gold group lower, dropping about 4.7% so far. Bema Gold, Agnico Eagle, Goldcorp, Meridian Gold, Kinross and Iamgold are all down.

Alcan is giving back some of its recent gains. Inco is weaker, too. Bombardier is down almost 5% in active trading. There is also weakness in Bennett Enviro and Bank of Montreal.

EnCana is down almost 2% in active trading on news that its second quarter net earnings were nearly $1.1 billion, including the impact of tax rate changes and foreign exchange gains.

Second quarter earnings included an unrealized after-tax gain of $199 million due to foreign exchange gains on its debt, and a gain of $486 million due to changes in Canadian and Alberta corporate income tax rates for the oil and gas industry. Excluding these gains, EnCana earned $381 million. In the second quarter of 2002, EnCana earned $458 million, which included an unrealized after-tax gain of $163 million related to foreign exchange and $42 million related to tax rate changes.

Biovail has dropped 4.4% on news that its second quarter net loss was $1 million, compared with net income of $62.6 million for second quarter 2002.

In contrast, earnings news is boosting Telus. It is up 2% on news that, for the second quarter of 2003, it enjoyed strong growth in earnings and cash flow, as well as revised full year guidance for 2003.

Operating earnings were up 16% due to strong performance at Telus Mobility and continued cost structure improvements. Earnings per share for the quarter were 21¢, compared with 5¢ a year ago. Guidance for various 2003 financial targets has been revised today including raising earnings per share by 20¢ to 30¢ to a range of 80¢ to 90¢. BCE was up on the news, too.

Elsewhere, stocks making gains include ATI, Stelco, Russel Metals, Ballard Power, and WestJet Airlines.

In other earnings news, Molson reported that its net earnings decreased 46% from $100.7 million to $54.7 million. Although, it says that comparable net earnings increased 21% from $70.0 million to $84.6 million.

Gerdau Ameristeel recorded a net loss of $1.6 million for the second quarter of 2003, compared with net income of $3.8 million for the second quarter of 2002.

TVA Group recorded net income of $17.6 million for the quarter, an increase of $5.6 million over the quarter in 2002.

CGI Group reported that its net earnings increased 29.0% to $47.1 million from last year’s third quarter net earnings.

In New York, stocks opened a bit lower, but plunged when the consumer confidence numbers were released at 10:00 ET. Since then, the Dow Jones industrial average has recovered from its 90 point drop. The Dow currently is off 18 points at 9,249.

The Nasdaq composite index has dropped three points to 1,733, while the S&P 500 is also down three points to 994.

The S&P/TSX Venture index is bucking the trend, gaining seven points to 1,172. Volume is average at better than 16 million shares. Ontzinc Corp. is the day’s top trader, flat at 11¢ on 446,500 shares.