Stocks are more or less flat at midday. The S&P/TSX index up a mere two points to 7,463.

Volume is very heavy at 192 million shares, with buying overwhelming the selling by about four to one.

However, the three-way gold merger is responsible for much of the volume. Market breadth is actually negative, with losers outpacing winners by seven to six.

On a sector by sector basis, the market is pretty evenly divided too. Tech stocks are up. So are industrial and consumer stocks. The golds are weaker once again, as are health care stocks, diversifieds, materials and financials.

The three-way gold merger between Kinross, TVX and Echo Bay is the big play today. Kinross is up more than 4% with 26.9 million shares changing hands. TVX has gained 7.6% on 19.6 million shares. Echo Bay has gained 4%.

Apart from the big merger, there’s plenty of action among the remaining golds, as the price slides a bit. Barrick is down 1.7% on more than two million shares. Placer Dome has dropped 2.8% on 4.3 million shares. Glamis Gold, Meridian Gold, Iamgold and Goldcorp are all down too. However, Bema Gold and Pan American Silver are up.

There’s good news for Nortel Networks investors. Nortel continues to provide plenty of upside volume today, as the market digests its latest financing action. It’s up 2% on heavy volume of 16.8 million shares.

There are other gains in names such as Thomson, CHC, Peyto Explorations and Laperriere & Verrault.

TD Bank is leading the financials down on speculation that Tyco’s troubles will hit its loan-book. Manulife Financial is down too.

The big news in the financial sector is that National Bank of Canada has acquired Altamira. The purchase price will be between $277.1 million and $314.1 million based on assets under management at closing. And the bank will assume Altamira’s debt of $195.9 million.

Losers today include Inco, Hurricane Hydrocarbons, Algoma, Magna International, Aber Diamond, and Parkland Industries.

The S&P/TSX Venture index continues to suffer weakness in its gold group. It is down 16 points today to 1177. Volume is average at 18.5 million shares. American Bonanza Gold is the top trader, down 1¢ to 16¢ on almost 1.3 million shares.

In New York, stocks are holding onto early gains sparked by reiterated earnings forecasts from Nokia and Nextel today. At midday, the Dow Jones industrial index is up 59 points to 9,704. The S&P has gained four ticks to 1,034. Nasdaq composite index is up 10 points to 1,540.