After a couple of consecutive days of solid advances, investors seemed to be a profit-taking mood.

Markets fought strong selling pressure throughout the day, and although the major indexes were able to overcome heavy early morning losses, they couldn’t find enough strength to finish in the black.

The TSE finished the day off 12 points at 7,744. Investors must have left for the cottage this morning, as volume was an anemic 89 million shares.

Among the sub-indices, market trend was slightly positive, with eight of the TSE’s 14 sub-indices posting gains. None of the sectors moved more than 1% either way.

Market trend among individual issues was also slightly positive, with advancers outpacing decliners 506 to 491.

Descartes Systems was heavily traded in the wake of yesterday’s disappointing earnings report. It ended down another $1.70 at $11.70.

RIM ended the day off another $2.95, at $38.45, as investors worry about the state of future sales for that company.

Certicom caught the attention of some traders, advancing 37%. It closed at $5.50, no news on the move.

A lot of penny stocks like GTR Group and Bridgepoint were moving as there didn’t seem to be much else to trade.

The CDNX kicked the downtrend and actually advanced on the day, climbing 22 points to end up at 3,100. Volume of 30 million shares, with 192 issues advancing and 147 declining.

The loonie also had a good day, advancing a strong 0.43% to close up at US65.35.

In New York, diminished hopes for a recovery in corporate profits combined with uncertainty over unemployment to drag markets lower. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 38 points to 10,513. The Nasdaq composite index shed 21 points to 2, 066, while the S&P 500 was off 6 points at 1,214.