Conflicting trading has the markets more or less unchanged at midday. The S&P/TSX index is down just eight points to 6,072.

Volume is strong at 15 million shares, with the buying ahead of the selling for a change, by a margin of about four to three. Market breadth is certainly negative however, with losers outnumbering winners 10:7.

The market’s bipolar nature ahead of this afternoon’s decision on U.S. interest rates is evident in the split among sectors, as traders react to the crosswinds of economic data, corporate news and war worries. Telecoms are weaker, as are energy plays, industrials and real estate. However, golds are up strongly, and there’s some recovery in financials, health care and materials.

Bargain hunters are rallying the financials today. Royal Bank is leading the way, with a modest 0.3% gain. There are also small gains on strong volume in Sun Life, TD Bank, Scotiabank and CIBC.

The same sentiment has some techs looking up. ATI Technologies is recovering, as is Cognos. But Celestica and Ballard Power are weaker. MDS is up, too, as is Maple Leaf Foods.

Bombardier is rallying, up 5.6%, on news that it has won several new contracts.

Golds are stronger as investors continue to take refuge in this sector. Barrick is leading the way higher, up more than 3%. Goldcorp is stronger, as is Bema Gold and Eldorado Gold.

On the downside, the energy stocks are giving back some of their recent gains, even as talk of war with Iraq continues. EnCana is down 1.4% today. There is also weakness in Petro Canada, and big blue chips such as Alcan, Hudson’s Bay and Onex.

In earnings news, Weyerhaeuser says it expects third quarter earnings to be between 5¢ and 10¢ per share. The company said it based its estimate on a likely loss in the wood products business due to the decline in prices and the effects of the countervailing duty on Canadian softwood lumber.

In New York, the trading has been choppy all morning ahead of the Fed decision. Stocks opened lower, recovered on some strong consumer confidence numbers, but are weakening once again. The Dow is down 104 points to 7,768. The S&P 500 has dropped eight points to 826. The Nasdaq composite index is at least getting some bargain hunting business, trading up four points to 1,188.

The small caps are a bit weaker. The S&P/TSX Venture index is down five points to 970. Volume is on the light side at 12 million shares. Treklogic Technologies is leading the trading, up 10¢ to 30¢ on more than 1 million shares traded.