Traders are cautious heading into the weekend as they mullover positive economic news from the U.S. and a mixed bag of earnings reports .As a result, the S&P/TSX composite index is up just six ticks to 7,258.

Volume is robust at 113.6 million shares, with the selling edging the buying by a margin of 32:21. Market breadth is closer to even, with losers edging out the winners 10 to nine.

The sector action is mixed. Telecoms and financials are the key sectors making gains. There is weakness in techs, real estate, diversifieds and golds.

Nortel is leading on the downside, dropping more than 3% in heavy trading on news of its latest results. Nortel is being followed lower by JDS Uniphase, Zarlink Semi and Microcell.

The other big mover on the downside is Noranda. It has lost 13.5% on heavy volume of 5.2 million shares. The drop comes in response to the news that Noranda recorded a net loss of $15 million for its latest quarter.

The company reported earnings of $47 million for the same period in 2002.

TransCanada Corp. is another loser with news. It has dropped just a little after announcing that its net income for the second quarter was $202 million, compared with $205 million for the second quarter 2002. The $3-million decrease was due to lower earnings from the transmission segment, partially offset by higher earnings from the power business and lower net expenses in the corporate segment.

EnCana has dropped in sympathy, and there is weakness in Placer Dome, Cambior, GoldenStar Resources, CanWest Global and Bioscrypt.

On the upside, Alcan remains strong. It has gained another 1.4% in active trading.

The financials are higher, led by gains in Royal Bank and Scotiabank. TSX Group is also enjoying a strong rally, up 4%.

Other gainers include First Calgary Petroleums, Teck, Sherritt, Lionore Mining, Abitibi, Sears Canada, Hudson’s Bay, and Manitoba Telecom.

In earnings news, Weyerhaeuser has recorded second quarter net earnings of $157 million, on net sales of $4.9 billion. This compares with $72 million in profit, on net sales of $4.9 billion for the second quarter of 2002.

Brokerage house Fahnestock Viner Holdings earned US$7.9 million in its second quarter.

Vector Aerospace earned $2.9 million in the quarter too.

On the M&A front, Hub International has signed a proposal to purchase substantially all of the brokerage operation assets of Near North National Group.

In executive suite news, McWatters Mining has disclosed that Claire Derome will be stepping down from her position as president and chief executive officer of the company.

And, Michael Donnell, the former chief executive officer of Cellular One of San Francisco, has been name president and chief operating officer of Zi Corp., effective immediately.

Finally, Uniforet reports that the court of appeal has dismissed the motion presented by a group of U.S. noteholders seeking leave to appeal a judgment approving its plan of arrangement under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. Uniforet intends to proceed immediately with the implementation of its plan of arrangement.

In New York, markets have been up, down and are now back up as traders digest news of strong durables, but mixed housing data. The Dow Jones industrial average is 43 points higher at midday to 9,155. The Nasdaq composite index is two ticks stronger at 1,703. The S&P 500 is up four points at 985.

The S&P/TSX Venture is also two and a half points stronger at 1,154. Volume is average at 15.7 million shares. Knight Resources is the day’s top trader, gaining 6¢ to 50¢ on 1.6 million shares traded.