Warnings from prominent tech firms led to a late afternoon slide on major stock markets Thursday.

The TSE 300 Composite Index fell 13.69 points to 7,418.10.

Overall, 10 of the TSE’s 14 sub-indexes actually gained ground on the day, with solid gains in the gold and consumer products sectors.

However, a 2.29% loss in the tech-heavy industrial products group wiped out gains in other areas.

Nortel Networks fell 43 cents to $8.52. Nortel was hurt by a major revenue warning from rival Ciena, which fell 13% after it posted a record Q1 loss and said business in Q2 would likely be 25% lower than expectations.

Bombardier fell 18¢ to $12.99.

Golds were the safe haven again today.. Barrick Gold jumped $1.51 to $29.75; Placer Dome gained $1.01 to $19.30.

Drug stock Biovail soared more than 10%, gaining $7.05 to $77.10. The company reported record fouth quarter results.

Among financial stocks, TD Bank fell 72 cents to $40.23. It was the first of the big banks to release its first quarter earnings. TD said its net income fell 15%, in part because of higher loan loss provisions.

The S&P/CDNX Composite Index closed up 1.47 at 1111.49. Trading was active on a volume of 32.8 million shares, with 186 advances, 167 declines and 563 issues unchanged.

In New York, technology shares were under pressure all day following disappointing earnings news and negative comments on Intel.

After rising above 10,000 earlier, the Dow Jones industrial average ended down 106.49 points, or 1.1%, to 9,834.68.

The Nasdaq tumbled 59.33 points, or 3.3%, to 1,716.24, and the S&P 500 closed off 17.03 points, or 1.6%, at 1,080.95.