Many traders decided to stay at the cottage and avoid the heatwave, it seems.

At midday, the TSE 300 is down just three points to 7,741.

Volume is anemic at 40.5 million shares, about evenly split between buyers and sellers. Losers hold a 10 to seven edge on winners, though.

Techs are more or less flat at midday. Miners are down, as are odd groups such as biotechs and department stores. But there is no major sectoral weakness. Nor is there much strength. Building materials are up, that’s about it. Banks have gained 0.4%, too.

The biggest mover today is Bombardier, down about 2%. Alcan is leading the miners down.

Techs are fighting to a draw with ATI Technologies down about 1.2%. Celestica is weak, as is Hummingbird and Tundra Semi.

Nortel Networks is up on news of a couple of supply deals. Royal Group Tech is enjoying a nice jump, gaining more than 3%, after announcing improved sales. JDS Uniphase is up almost 6%, and there are also gains is Descartes systems and Exfo Electro. Many traders, however, are sitting on their hands ahead of Cisco Systems’ earnings report tonight.

Among the financials, banks are up, led by TD Bank. Manulife is giving back some recent gains, and Sceptre is down about 8%, albeit in light trading.

Gildan Activewear is also enjoying a strong day, up almost 5%, after it was reported to be teaming up with the U.S. holding company Texas Pacific Group Inc. to bid for Fruit of the Loom Ltd., which has been in bankruptcy protection since late 1999.

In other business news, Domtar has completed its previously announced acquisition of four paper mills, and their related business and assets, from Georgia-Pacific Corporation.

Chapters shareholders have overwhelmingly agreed to the merger of Chapters Inc. and Indigo Books & Music Inc. in a vote at Chapters annual general meeting held today. The company also reported that the net loss per share for the first quarter was 57¢ compared with a net loss per share of $1.12 in the same period last year. Chapters Online lost $2.7 million in the first quarter.

In the U.S., stocks are generally up at midday, although the techs remain cautious. The Dow Jones industrial average is up 30 points to 10,431. The Nasdaq composite index has dropped five points to 2,029. The S&P 500 is up two points to 1,202.

The small caps are weak today, too. The CDNX is down eight points to 3.092. Volume is weak at 13.4 million shares. Oils are leading the way down, with some help from techs. Miners are flat. The top trader is Castlerock Capital, up 50% to 40¢ on 1.6 million shares.