By James Langton

(April 24 – 13:00 ET) – Markets opened down a bit today after some poor earnings results, but they’ve clawed their way slightly higher at midday. The TSE 300 is up 32 points to 7,961.

Volume is average at 75 million shares, with buyers holding a six to five edge over sellers. Advancers slightly outnumber decliners, too.

The sector split is about even, with half the TSE’s 14 sub-indices up, and half of them flat or down. Golds are leading the winners, as are conglomerates and industrials, but most of the gains are minor. Paper stocks are the weakest group today, but the downside is generally limited.

U.S. Consumer Confidence data came out lower-than-expected at 10:00 ET today, sending stocks powering higher nonetheless. Markets are taking the view that the weak number will keep interest rates heading lower as growth remains the focus, not inflation.

The top trader on the TSE today isn’t Nortel Networks for a change. 360networks has the honour, but it isn’t a pleasant one. The stock is down 16% in heavy trading of 5.4 million shares as traders worry about its debt position.

The firm announced this morning that it is meeting its payments on its $1.2 billion senior secured credit facility. “As a result of cash on hand, sales contracts with customers and credit facilities available to us, we are comfortable that we can meet such obligations. We recognize that these are difficult markets for all of us, but 360networks has always met its debt obligations and we are taking appropriate internal measures to ensure this will not change going forward,” said Vanessa Wittman, the company’s new CFO, in a release.

Nortel is the number two trader, shaking off weak results at JDS Uniphase Corp. Nortel has gained 2% today on 4.3 million shares. It is joined by a bounceback at Research in Motion, Leitch, and Open Text.

Other winners are a mixed bag, including miner Teck Corp., TVX Gold, Biomira, CHC Heliopter and CanWest Global.

Abitibi, Domtar and Alliance Forest Products are leading the slide in the paper group. But the weakness is spread around too, with names as diverse as Bombardier, Gulf Canada, BCE Emergis, Hub Group, Fairfax and Royal Group Tech are all down. JDS has lost better than 9% on its surprise earnings announcement.

In other earnings news, CGI Group reported second-quarter profit slipped to 5¢ a share, down from 9¢ a share one year ago, and below expectations of 7¢ a share.

In New York, markets are much the same, gyrating around the open and not making a dramatic move one way or the other. The consumer confidence release helped spur buying on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average is up 24 points to 10,556. The Nasdaq composite index has gained 14 points to 2,072. The S&P 500 is down two points to 1,222.

The CDNX is only modestly changed too, off four points to 3,037. Volume is average at 17.4 million shares. Oils are down, while miners and techs are up slightly. Former TSE denizen William Multi-Tech is the top trader, although it is flat at 3¢ on 739,000 shares.