With not much economic or corporate news to give direction, markets are stuck in neutral today. The S&P/TSX index is down just three points at midday to 8,350.

Volume is still quite strong at 180.3 million shares, with buying action outpacing the selling 23:11. Market breadth remains much closer to even, with winners edging losers 59:56.

The split market is leading to a fairly even split among sectors, too. Miners are the source of selling pressure once again, down 2.4%. Materials, utilities, industrials and health acre stocks are all down, too, albeit more modestly. Fears about the U.S. recovery seem to be the big factor weighing on the trade still. Against this there’s some continued strength in techs and telecoms, REITs and financials.

Nortel continues to lead the rally in techs, on heavy volume. It’s stock is up 1.1% on 15.5 million shares traded. BCE is also up on strong volume, and there are gains for Research in Motion, Certicom and Microcell.

Cameco is leading the old economy companies lower. Fears about the U.S. recovery and higher commodity prices continue to inspire some selling. It is down 5.4% in strong trading. Alcan is down 2.5%, Inco has dropped 1.5%, Noranda has lost 3.7%. And, there is selling in Cambior, Aur Resources, Ivanhoe Mines and Bonavista Energy Trust. Big name energy firms such as EnCana and Petro Canada are seeing small declines, too.

Other losers include Boardwalk Equities, QLT, VSM MedTech, and Moore Wallace. Moore Wallace is down more than 3% despite saying that its fourth quarter profit beat expectations, due to better-than-expected performance in its commercial print and direct mail businesses, and the recognition of higher cost savings during the quarter.

In the financial group, Royal Bank is leading the way with a 0.8% rally. There are small gains for CIBC, TD Bank, Scotia, and Manulife.

Other gainers include Stelco, TransGlobe, Lorus, Westaim, NHC Communications, Rubicon Minerals and Formation Capital.

In other earnings news, Cogeco loses said that it lost $15 million in the first quarter, despite higher revenue. Cogeco Cable lost $40.3 million in the quarter.

ConjuChem’s net loss for the 12-month period ended Oct. 31, 2003, was $28.1 million, compared with $37.6 million, a year ago.

On the M&A front, Groupe Laperriere has made two new strategic acquisitions for its process group in its primary market: ore extraction and processing equipment. GL&V acquired certain assets of Innovative Flotation CC, a company headquartered near Johannesburg, South Africa. It also acquired certain assets of the 3-H Mining division of SOI Holding Company, Inc., located in the Pittsburgh.

Wheaton River Minerals has completed the acquisition of the Amapari gold project in Brazil for US$25 million in cash, 33 million Wheaton River common shares and 21.5 million Wheaton River Series B common share purchase warrants.

Bow Valley Energy has appointed Matthew Janisch as its CFO. Janisch was an oil and gas equity research analyst.

In New York, the trading action is similarly uninspiring, with the Dow Jones industrial average up just 12 points to 1,0471. The Nasdaq composite index has gained 13 ticks to 2,100.

The S&P/TSX Venture index is making gains, adding 13 points to 1818. Volume is very strong, with 54.2 million shares changing hands. The volume is led by China Diamond, which is up 4.5¢ to 50¢ on 2.3 million shares. It is closely followed by Zaq, which is up 4.5¢ to 34¢ on 2.2 million shares, on news that it has entered into an agreement to acquire CogniScience Enterprises Inc., a software company specialized in e-learning. Under the terms of the agreement, Zaq will issue up to 14 million shares. The total value of the transaction is between $3.3 million and $4.5 million.