A stock exchange other than the TSE broke down today. A “software glitch” at the New York Stock Exchange interrupted trading this morning for a little over an hour.

The mishap seemed to spook investors and the major indices finished the day substanitally lower.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.03% to 10,977. The Nasdaq composite index slipped 2.16% to 2,215, and the S&P 500 was of 0.94% at 1,265.

Canadian exchanges were split. While the CDNX was up a strong 41 points, closing at 3,399, the TSE 300 was off 63 points at 8,128.

The only bright spot on the TSE was the gold sub-index, which advanced 3.7% on the day. Also up were pipelines, the communications, and merchandisers.

The industrial sub-index, like the tech-heavy Nasdaq was heavily sold today. It closed down 2.9%,

Overall, decliners outpaced advancers 567 to 521. Volume was 131 million shares.

That was in contrast to the CDNX where 268 issues advanced and 205 declined. Volume was 34 million shares.

360networks was the most heavily traded stock on the TSE today. A Moody’s downgrade sent investors running for the exits. At the close, the stock was trading under a buck at 95¢, down 37%.

Nortel Networks also took a hit, dropping 4.75% to close at $19.33. Other techs taking a beating included RIM, off 8.99% at a straight $50 and Certicom down another 15.40% at $5.33.

After a big runup this week, shares in Stressgen pulled back somewhat today. The stock was off 12.18% at $5.73.

Suddenly everyone seems to love the loonie. And why not, as long as it looks like our economy is not going to get hit as bad as the American one, the loonie is a bargain. The Canadian dollar advanced another 0.14% today to close at US65.75¢.