Markets are snoozing again today. At midday, the TSE 300 is up a paltry two points to 7,541.

With lots of bad news in the market and no real good news to trade on, traders are mostly sitting on their hands.

Volume is relatively decent today at 60.5 million shares, with selling slightly outpacing the buying. Market breadth is also a bit negative, with losers outnumbering winners by nine to seven.

By sector, most of today’s moves are minor. Consumer products, golds, real estate and financials are enjoying some modest buying today. Everything else is down, led by paper stocks, energy, media and merchandisers.

The big trader today is takeover target, Oxford Properties. But it is indicative of the markets recently, flat on a volume of 4.3 million shares. Other heavy traders include CP and PanCanadian Energy.

Techs are up slightly on the day, thanks to gains in Nortel Networks, in the face of slides in names such as Celestica, Tundra Semi, ATI and Descartes Systems.

Other stocks on the upside today include Anderson Exploration, Extendicare, Petrobank, QLT, Biovail, Air Canada, and Intertape Polymer.

Financials are on the upside, thanks to TD Bank and TD Waterhouse, which are both enjoying some gains after the bank announced flat earnings this morning. Royal Bank is down a bit, helping to restrain gains in this group.

Other losers today include West Jet, Rio Alto, Falconbridge and Canadian Tire.

In business news, board of directors of Westlinks has authorized the repurchase of up to 5% of its total outstanding common shares. The company currently has about 5.7 million outstanding common shares. Westlinks has the option to buy back its common shares through the 12-month period ending on Aug. 20, 2002.

The Steelworkers union has broken off talks with Algoma Steel after CCAA Court proceedings revealed that the Ontario government is unwilling to participate actively in the restructuring process at Algoma Steel. The union’s proposal was contingent on government involvement in restructuring the pension plans. The union is now reviewing its position.

In New York, trading is light and uninspired. The Dow Jones industrial average is down 32 points to 10,245. The Nasdaq composite index is up six ticks to 1,866. The S&P 500 is flat at 1,165.

The CDNX is down 11 points to 3,053. Volume is strong for a change at 16.2 million shares. Energy and techs are leading the way lower. Mines are flat. Energy Visions is the top trader, flat at 72¢ in its debut, moving more than 4 million shares.