Stocks opened higher today, but at midday traders are taking profits, and the S&P/TSX composite index has now crossed into negative territory. The index is down just three points to 8,592.

On the economic front, tomorrow’s rate decision in the U.S., or at least the accompanying policy statement, is preoccupying traders. Retail sales numbers came in on the low side in Canada, but U.S. consumer confidence numbers were reported higher. Both reports were seemingly ignored as they don’t much change the outlook for either economy.

Trading in Toronto may also be afflicted a power blackout that has hit part of the downtown core.

A large part of downtown Toronto lost power for about 90 minutes Tuesday, dimming the lights in landmarks including City Hall and the Eaton Centre.

At around 11:00 ET, the lights went out in the area from College Street in the north to Queen Street in the south, and east from University Avenue to Victoria Street.

There were also reports of power disruptions as far south as King Street, the home of the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The service was restored at about 12:30 ET.

Volume is certainly lower than in recent days at 142.4 million shares, with buying swamping selling action by a 28:17 margin. Market breadth also gives the bulls an edge, with winners outnumbering losers by a narrow 19:18 margin.

There is compelling weakness in miners, with that sector down 1.8%. Health care stocks and techs are also losing momentum. Against this, there are heady gains in gold stocks, up 3%. Most other sectors are more or less unchanged.

Falconbridge is leading the miners lower, down 4.6%. There is also notable selling in Alcan, Inmet Mining and Aur Resources.

However, golds stocks are overwhelmingly strong today, led by a 2.2% gain in Barrick. Nevsun Resources, Wheaton River, Bema Gold, Golden Star Resources, Glamis Gold, Pan American Silver, Aber Diamond and Eldorado Gold are all higher.

Eldorado’s gains follow a yearend update from the firm, including news that the company is well positioned with US$105 million in cash, and totally debt- and hedge-free, to continue its strategy for value-added growth.

Financial stocks are mixed today, as usual. Bank of Montreal is weighing on the trade, down 1% in active trading. Scotiabank, Royal Bank and Manulife are down, too. However, Sun Life is jumping 1.1% higher, and CIBC is stronger, as well.

On the tech side, there’s some positive action in Nortel, up 0.7%. ATI is stronger too. But, this is being overcome by weakness in names such as Research in Motion, Mitec, Call-Net, Celestica and Sierra Wireless. BCE is down 0.5% too.

Elsewhere, there is some selling in CanWest Global, Moore Wallace, Abitibi, Suncor Energy and Clublink. Metro is down 4.3% on news that net earnings for the first quarter increased to $37.6 million, compared with $35.3 million for the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year.

News is also driving a big gain in Seventh Energy. It is up 29% on news that it is being acquired by PrimeWest Energy Trust’s subsidiary, PrimeWest Gas Corp. The deal is worth $34.6 million in cash plus assumed debt and working capital adjustments. The cost of the assumption of debt and working capital adjustments is expected to be approximately $8.7 million. The acquisition is expected to close no later than March 18.

Other notable gainers today include Brascan, Peak Energy and Paramount Energy Trust.

NQL Drilling Tools has signed an agreement to sell the assets of its wholly owned subsidiary, Ackerman International Corp., for cash proceeds of US$1,425,000. NQL has undertaken a strategic review of all of its operations and determined that the Ackerman operations are no longer core to the company. It expects to record a pretax loss of approximately US$2.9 million in its fourth quarter 2003 financial records as a result of this transaction. Closing is expected in the next 14 days.

In earnings news, Canadian Pacific Railway has posted net income of $175 million in the fourth quarter of 2003, an increase from net income of $126 million in the same period of 2002. For full year 2003, net income was $399 million, compared with $496 million in 2002.

Legacy Hotels REIT recorded a $8.4 million loss for 2003.

In other business news, Mesa Air Group Inc. has placed a firm order for 20 Bombardier regional jets. The order is valued at $837 million.