Traders remain on the sidelines today as war worries overwhelm most of the market’s other considerations. The S&P/TSX index is up seven points to 6,496.

Volume is very weak at just 75.8 million shares, with buying ahead of the selling by about nine to eight. Market breadth is slightly weak however, with losers edging winners.

Again, there are few dramatic moves among the sectors. Health care stocks are up on some specific news, but there is really no other convincing trend among the TSX sectors.

Biovail is powering the health care group higher with a 9% gain on strong volume of 1.1 million shares, after it issued strong guidance for the coming year. It predicts that revenue will be up 30% in the coming year and that earnings will rise even more impressively than that, due to higher margins.

Nortel is up 1.4% on light volume of 7.9 million shares. Open Text is higher, too, but Celestica and Research in Motion are down.

Loblaws is another news-driven mover, gaining 1% in active trading on news of its latest earnings. It reported that its earnings climbed to $728 million in 2002, up 29% for the year. Earnings were 22% higher for the fourth quarter.

Golds are generally weaker as the broader market enjoys a little bit of strength. Barrick and Placer Dome are both down. Kinross is also weaker, as is Paramount Resources.

Other losers include Air Canada, Shaw Communications, VSM Medtech, Southwestern Resources and Gauntlet Energy.

Notable gainers are a mixed bag, including everything from St. Lawrence Cement to Cequel Energy. CanWest Global, Brascan, and Peyto Explorations are also higher.

In business news, Rogers Communications has tapped Edward Rogers to become president and co-chief executive officer of Rogers Cable. Current CEO, John Tory, is leaving to enter politics. He will remain chair and co-CEO in the meantime. Also, Dean MacDonald, senior vice-president, government relations, Rogers Communications, is appointed as executive vice-president and chief operating officer, Rogers Cable Inc.

ATI Technologies says it has reached an agreement for the full and complete settlement of all remaining claims alleged in the shareholder class action lawsuits filed in May 2001, in the U.S. Under the terms of the settlement, the defendants have agreed to pay US$8 million to resolve all claims. A portion of this amount is expected to be paid by ATI’s insurer. ATI will take a special charge for the net amount in its second quarter.

The S&P/TSX Venture index is down just a point to 1113. Volume is on the soft side at 21.4 million shares. Goldminco Corp. is the day’s top trader, up a penny to 15¢ on 3.4 million shares.

In New York, stocks started the day higher on some stronger U.S. jobs data, but that enthusiasm has faded with news of a heightened terror threat in the U.S. The Dow Jones industrial average is down 44 points at midday to 7,886. The S&P 500 is down five ticks to 833. The Nasdaq composite index has dropped 10 ticks to 1,292.