Stocks are little changed at midday as traders digest a slew of economic and market news. The S&P/TSX composite index up just five points to 8,645.

Volume is on the light side at 115.5 million shares, with selling action outpacing the buying by a 57:50 margin. Market breadth is also bearish, as losers outnumber winners 64:49.

Canadian manufacturing shipments in February were stronger than expected, thanks to higher prices were the big reason. Overall, manufacturing activity looks tepid.

In the U.S., jobless claims jumped unexpectedly last week. However, continuing claims continued to slide, leaving the employment picture a bit cloudy.

Business news is also having its effect, with strong earnings from Citigroup leading the profit picture. And, there are a number of M&A deals in the news, headlined by EnCana’s move to acquire Tom Brown Inc. for US$2.35 billion.

Most TSX sectors are a little higher at midday. Resources are leading the way, with both miners and golds up 0.6%. Materials, telecoms and REITs look stronger, too. Techs and financials are the weak spots.

The big trade today is the IPO of Opti Canada, an energy firm. It has jumped 3.6% in its debut, on strong volume of 10 million shares.

However, its thunder has been somewhat stolen by EnCana, which is down 1.2% on news of its big acquisition.

Apart from the EnCana deal, there’s plenty of other M&A action in Toronto today. Ainsworth Lumber has agreed to acquire all of the shares of Voyageur Panel Limited for about US$193 million. The acquisition will be financed with cash on hand and new unsecured debt.

Nexxlink Technical Services Inc. has concluded the acquisition of CGI assets in the technical support company Meta-4 Technical Support Services. Nexxlink has paid $8.75 million to CGI in cash and stock. And, Surge Petroleum and Troutline Investments have also completed the plan of arrangement transaction, as Troutline has acquired all of the securities of Surge.

Elsewhere in the energy group, the action is mixed. Petro Canada is up 1.4% and Canadian Natural Resources has added 1.8%, but there’s weakness in Suncor Energy. Among smaller names, Petrokazahstan, Cequel Energy and Superior Plus Income Fund are up. But, Pembina and Calpine are both down notably.

Financials are taking the prospect of higher interest rates on the chin once again. TD Bank is leading the way, down 1.2%, followed by Bank of Montreal, which has dropped 0.8%. Royal Bank, CIBC and Scotia are seeing smaller slides, as is Manulife.

Nortel is leading the tech group down, dropping 0.9%, albeit in light volume. Celestica is even weaker, down more than 3% at midday.

Biotechs such as Forbes Medi-tech, Oncolytics and ConjuChem are all down. Cinram is weaker, too.

BCE and Telus are both up however, leading the telecoms higher.

Golds are also stronger, with gains coming in names such as Meridian Gold, Yamana Gold, Blackrock and NA Palladium. Also, Alcan has added 0.7%.

In other business news, Rand A Technology Corp. reports that it lost $50 million in 2003. And, it has formed a North American joint venture with Dassault Systemes. The new company will be 60% owned by Dassault and 40% owned by Rand. Dassault will pay Rand $11 million, as well as reschedule Rand Worldwide loan payments.

Nexia Biotechnologies Inc. said it lost $2.5 million in its second quarter.

In New York, the mix of news has the Dow Jones industrial average up just 19 points to 10,397. The tech heavy Nasdaq composite index is 18 ticks lower at 2,007.

The S&P/TSX Venture index is holding up better today, down just one point at midday to 1788. Volume remains modest at 30.1 million shares. Spider Resources Inc. is the top trader on the day, down 2.5¢ to 16.5¢, with more than 1 million shares traded.