Stocks are trading with a tight range Thursday as uncertainty of Iraq looms over the market. The S&P/TSX index is down 10 points at midday to 6,563.

Volume is on the light side at 99.1 million shares, with the selling trumping the buying by a six to five margin. Market breadth is a positive however, with winners outnumbering losers eight to seven.

There is weakness in techs today, although they are down just 1.3%. Telecoms, health care and consumer stocks are lower, but nothing is down as much as 1%.

Golds are rallying yet again, and materials and energy stocks are a bit higher.

Nortel is weighing on the tech group today, down about 2.6% on 19.5 million shares. Exco technologies and Cogeco are down, too.

Biotechs are notably weaker once again, with Pangeo Pharma down another 7.8%. Biovail is also weaker.

The roster of notable losers includes Shaw Communications, Abitibi, Cameco, Noranda and Magna.

Financials are modestly weaker today, but the banks are making tiny gains on decent volume. Royal Bank and Bank of Montreal are both up about 0.3% on more than 2 million shares traded. Scotia is a bit stronger on lighter volume. Fairfax is also up another 8%.

Golds are stronger as a safe haven play, with buying in Wheaton River Minerals, Aur Resources, TVX Gold, Kinross Gold, Agnico Eagle and Northgate Exploration.

In earnings news, beverage maker Cott is reporting sharply lower 2002 profits because of one-time charges for the early redemption of debt and other accounting changes, but its revenue grew with recent acquisitions. Cott said profit was US$3.9 million for the year ended Dec. 28. That compared with year-earlier earnings of US$39.9 million.

Petro-Canada says its annual profit rose 15% in 2002 to $974 million. The firm said the increase was due to higher energy prices and a 440% increase in fourth-quarter earnings,

Shell Canada Ltd. earned sharply higher profits in the fourth quarter as it benefited from rising oil and natural gas prices and higher profit margins in its gasoline refining business. The company reported it made $247 for the three months ended Dec. 31. That was up from $170 million for the same 2001 period.

The S&P/TSX Venture index is up a point at 1107. Volume is light at 16.7 million shares. MD Multimedia is the day’s top trader, up 2¢ to 3¢ on 738,000 shares.

In New York, stocks have been down for much of the morning hampered by a weak U.S. fourth quarter GDP.

The U.S. economy slowed sharply in the fourth quarter. U.S. GDP increased at an annual rate of just 0.7% according to advance estimates released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 4%.

The Dow Jones industrial average has dropped 72 points to 8,039. The S&P 500 is 11 points lower at 854. The Nasdaq composite index is 17 points down at 1,341.

Dow Chemical Co. reported a much wider loss in the fourth quarter of 2002, blaming a 35 per cent increase in feedstock and energy costs.