A lack of direction has the S&P/TSX index down 29 points to 6,563 at midday. Volume remains soft at just 80.6 million shares.

Selling action is ahead of the buying by about 13:11. Market breadth is almost evenly split between winners and losers.

On a sector basis, the market is seeing another flight to safety. The gold index, up more than 2%, is the only one showing a notable gain.

Meanwhile, there is modest weakness throughout much of the rest of the TSX sectors, with traders having a hard time finding reasons to buy stocks with confidence. Financials are backing off, as are techs, energy and industrials.

Canada Life is leading the way down, sliding 0.5% on strong volume of 1.2 million shares, as traders puzzle out the implications of its acquisition by Great-West Lifeco.

Spurned suitor Manulife has backed off 1%. Fairfax Financial and Kingsway are also down.

Elsewhere the price slides are modest, but widespread. Inco is down, as is EnCana, Air Canada, GSI Lumonics, Decoma International, Agrium, Nexcor, Shaw Communications and Abitibi.

Traders that are taking their profits and rolling them back into golds. Placer Dome is powering the move, up 2.4% in heavy trading. Barrick is up a little, but the smaller players are all moving, with big gains coming in Bema Gold, Eldorado Gold, Glamis Gold, and Meridian Gold.

Other gainers today include Southwestern Resources, Ivanhoe Mines, Forzani and Crescent Point Energy.

In earnings news, Niko Resources reported that its net income was $6.5 million last quarter, compared with $3.6 million in the 2001 quarter.

The small caps are bucking the gloomy tone on the big board. The S&P/TSX Venture index is up a single point at 1,089. Volume is light at 18.1 million shares. Northern Empire Minerals is the day’s top trader, gaining 13¢ to $1.40 on 794,500 shares.

In New York, buyers are sitting on their hands. The Dow Jones industrial average has dropped 56 points to 7,985. The S&P 500 is six points lower at 845. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is down 11 points at 1,336.