Toronto stocks finished down slightly Friday as the market overcame heavy selling pressure brought on by an anthrax scare in New York.

The TSE 300 closed down 29.10 points to 7,031.

Stocks were weak from the start, knocked down by disappointing economic reports from the United States. Retail sales plunged during September and wholesale inflation was higher than expected during the month.

Only four of the TSE’s 14 sub-indices closed higher, and market breadth was negative with declines outpacing advances 554 to 465. Volume was relatively light with 104 million shares changing hands.

Financial services stocks dropped 1% as news of weaker U.S retail sales raised fears of defaulted bank loans. Bank of Nova Scotia shares slid 54¢ to $46.45, while Royal Bank slipped 46¢ to $46.19.

The bellwether industrial products sub-index closed up 1%, as the day’s top trader, Nortel Networks, announced it had signed a network deal with Qwest. Nortel shares climbed almost 6% to $9.27.

Investors returned to the safe haven of gold stocks on Friday, sending the gold sub-index up 3.42%. Rio Alto surged 8.67% to $24.55, while Placer Dome rose 4% to $18.64.

Trading was active on the Canadian Venture Exchange on Friday. Over 31 million shares changed hands, with 185 advances and165 declines. The CDNX Index closed down 0.09 points at 2,879.63

On Wall Street, stocks overcame intense selling pressure following an anthrax scare in New York. The Nasdaq composite index squeaked out a gain and the Dow Jones industrial average ended only modestly lower.

The Dow shed 66.29 points to 9,344.16, while the S&P 500 slipped the 5.78 to 1,091.65. The Nasdaq eked out a gain of 1.93 points, closing at 1,703.40.