Toronto stocks closed at their lowest level in three weeks today, lacking direction from the U.S. because of Martin Luther King Day and grumbling over the future corporate earnings reports.

The TSE 300 closed 21.94 points, or 0.3% , down at 7582.85, its lowest level since Dec. 24. Volume was weak at just over 32 million shares changing hands.

Analysts said the TSE 300’s performance, which usually depends on the ebb and flow of the U.S. markets for direction, was lackluster.

Overall in Toronto 11 of the TSE 300’s 14 subindexes closed lower, led down by a 1.4% dip in the technology-heavy industrial products group and a 1% fall in the lightly weighted conglomerates group.

Tech stocks such as Celestica Inc. and Nortel Networks Corp. edged lower after Morgan Stanley Dean Witter cut its rating for Finnish cellphone giant Nokia to “underperform” from “neutral”.

Trading was more active on the CDNX today with a volume of 33.6 million shares, with 204 advances, 185 declines and 517 issues unchanged. The S&P/CDNX Composite Index closed up 3.58 points at 1098.02