A sharply divided market has indexes little changed at midday.

The TSE 300 is down about 10 points to 7,846.

Volume is strong at 106 million shares, with buyers beating sellers by almost two to one. Market breadth is much more even, with winners edging losers by about eight to seven.

Looking at the new stock categories introduced by Standard and Poor’s and the TSE today, energy, financials and industrials are the most notable losers. Telecoms are down sharply. Techs are flat.

Consumer stocks, both staples and discretionary, are up, as are materials, utilities and health care. The resources are particularly weak, as are transports. Golds are up about 3%, leading the gainers.

BCE and BCE Emergis continue to take a pounding for their earnings shortfalls. The parent company is down 2.6% on strong volume of 2.9 million shares. BCE Emergis has dropped 6.5% on 1.5 million shares.

Nortel Networks’ rally was short-lived. Today it is down 1.6% in relatively peaceful trading. Geac Computer and Telus are down notably, too.

There’s some weakness in energy stocks, with Pan Canadian Energy down 0.6% in active trading. Precision Drilling is lower too. Alcan is leading the metals group lower. And Bombardier s dropping the transports.

Also, Laurentian Bank has dropped 5.6% on news that it has adopted a poison pill to prevent a possible takeover.

The gold stocks are dominating the upside, as traders look for a safe haven over the weekend. Barrick is up 2.3% in active trading. But it is a laggard compared to some of the smaller producers. TVX Gold is up 17% on strong volume, and there is also tons of buying in Kinross Gold, Glamis Gold, Bema Gold and Meridian Gold.

There’s some notable buying in Canada Life. Hemosol is rebounding after its recent beating. And there are also gains in Rio Alto, Gauntlet Energy, Hurricane Hydrocarbons and Ballard Power.

Forzani is getting a nice 4.4% lift on news of its latest record results.

In business news, the insurance brokerage firm, Hub International, reports that it has filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering in the U.S. The offering will be led by J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. The co-managers will be Cochran, Caronia & Co., Stephens Inc., BMO Nesbitt Burns Corp. and Ferris, Baker Watts Inc.

In New York, a choppy trading session also has stocks lower at midday despite some buying momentum at the open. The Dow Jones industrial average is down 35 points to 10,444. The Nasdaq composite index has lost four points to 1,865. The S&P 500 has dropped just two ticks to 1,151. Next week is a big vacation week in the U.S. so some traders may simply be hiding ahead of next week’s expected trading lull.

The small caps are the only thing rallying today. At midday, the S&P/CDNX Composite Index has gained four points to 1,161. Volume is robust at 19 million shares. Cusil Ventures Corp is the top trader, gaining 30% to 65¢ on almost 1 million shares traded.