After trading in positive territory for the first half of the day, the TSE 300 drifted lower toward the close. The composite index finished down 27.20 points at 7,604.50.

Only six of the TSE’s 14 sub-indices posted gains, with none over 1%. The biggest advances were in pipelines, merchandising, and transportation.

The biggest drops were in golds, down over 2%, industrials and consumer products.

The frenzy over Future Shop knocked Nortel Networks out of the top trading spot. The stock advanced a staggering 46% on news that Canada’s biggest electronics retailer is being taken over by its U.S. counterpart, Best Buy. Future Shop closed up $5.34 at $16.84 on volume of nearly 7 million shares.

Sitting at number two, Nortel slipped 12¢ to close at $11.04, a loss of just over 1%. Number three trader Bombardier also fell. It dipped 40¢ to close at $19.85.

There was some heavy trading in penny stocks Laidlaw and 360networks. Laidlaw advanced 29%, while 360networks closed flat.

Among financial stocks four of the big six banks advanced, and after dropping back last week Fairfax Financial regained some ground today, adding $3 to close at $224.

Sun Life Financial didn’t fare as well. The stock gave up $1.12 to close at $26.53, a drop of 2%.


Hemosol was the big loser today. The biotech stock plummeted $5.33 to close at $6.60, a drop of 45%.

ATS Automation Tooling Systems ran into trouble as well. ATS shares fell $2.35 to close a $19.65, a drop of over 10%.

Volume on the TSE was 127 million shares. Decliners surpassed advancers 541 to 472, with 220 issues closing unchanged.

The CDNX index advanced today, gaining 7.56 points to close at 3,080.62. Trading was active on a volume of 30 million Shares, with 176 advances, 157 declines and 528 issues unchanged.

In New York, volume was light, as investors appeared to take the day off. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 3.74 points to 10,412.17, while the S&P 500 inched down 4.56 points to 1,186.73. Tech stocks took the biggest hit, as the Nasdaq composite index dropped 17.72 points to 1,964.53.