An early rebound from yesterday’s plunge didn’t last, as concerns over the U.S. economy outweighed any push from positive earnings from the likes of BCE and Enbridge.

The S&P/TSX Composite index ended the session down 64.75 points, or 0.50%, at 12,867.20.

Five of the ten main TSX groups fell today.

The information tech group fell 3.4%, led by Research in Motion. RIM shares dropped $4.32, or 4.86%, to close at $84.60.

The gold sub-group helped balance the losses by gaining 1.35%. Barrick Gold Corp. led the way, gaining 59¢, or 1.22%, to close out at $48.79.

Gold for April delivery surged US$14.70, or 1.6%, to close at US$905 an ounce on the Nymex.

The financials sector shed early gains to close down 0.42%.

Royal Bank of Canada shares gained 23¢, or 0.46%, closing at $50.12.

The Bank of Montreal lost 55¢, or 0.97%, to close at $56.15.

The energy group lost 1.40%.

The March crude contract fell US$1.27, or 1.4%, to close at US$87.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Petro-Canada shares lost $1.45, or 3.25%, to close at $43.12.

Encana Corp. shares shed $1.54, or 2.30%, to end the day at $65.37.

Enbridge Inc. shares dropped 32¢, or 0.80%, closing at $39.88, after it reported a 45% rise in fourth quarter net income, to US$248.6 million, and boosted its dividend by 7.3%, to 33¢ a share.

The diversified metals group fell 1.90%.

Saskatoon-based Cameco Inc. stock fell 13¢, or 0.40%, to end the session at $32.19, after it announced that higher uranium prices had pushed Q4 earnings up to $61 million from $40 million in the same period of 2006.

In individual stocks, BCE Inc. shares gained 35¢, or 1.01%, shutting down at $34.90, after the company announced its sale of Telesat helped push Q4 earnings to $2.35 billion from $699 million in the same quarter in 2006.

Shares of cigarette maker Rothmans Inc. shares gained 30¢, or $1.25, to close at $24.21, on news of a 22% rise in October-December profit on 11% sales growth.

The Canadian dollar closed out at US$99.39, up 0.10 of cent from yesterday’s close.

In economic news, Statistics Canada reported today the value of building permits hit another record high in 2007. Municipalities issued $74.3 billion worth of building permits in 2007, up 12.1% from $66.3 billion in 2006.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index closed down 4.31 points, or 0.17%, at 2,505.66.

In New York, markets rebounded early but an afternoon warning against overzealous rate cuts from a state Federal Reserve president cut the rally short.

The Dow shed 65.03 points, or 0.53%, to close out at 12,200.10.

The S&P 500 lost 10.19 points, or 0.76%, and ended the session at 1,326.45

And the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 30.82 points, or 1.33%, to finish at 2,278.75.