North American markets fell on Friday as investors appeared to ignore figures that showed the U.S. economy is growing at its fastest level in more than two years.

The TSE 300 Composite Index fell 56.69 points to 7,629.60.

Overall, nine of the TSE’s 14 sub-indices lost ground, led by a 2.6% drop in the tech-heavy industrial products group.

Nortel fell 34¢ to $5.46, while BCE fell 38¢ to $27.02.

The shares of former tech darling JDS Uniphase fell 85¢ to $8.50. After the close on Thursday, the telecom gear maker reported a $4.3 billion quarterly loss and announced another 2,000 job cuts, saying its sales continued to fall.

The gold sub-index Friday’s bright spot. Gold stocks surged 4% as the price of gold on the spot market rose US$3.70 US to US$311.40. Barrick Gold rose $1.30 to $31.85, while Placer Dome closed up 45¢ to $19.93.

TransCanada Pipelines shares rose 30¢ $22.61 after the company reported its first-quarter profit rose 15% over last year.

All of the big banks fell. The bullish U.S. GDP report has investors concerned that interest rate hikes could come sooner and stronger. CIBC fell 84¢ to $53.50; TD Bank dropped 75¢ to $42.

Investors Group fell 40¢ to $31.35. The company reported its first quarter profits almost doubled to $116.5 million, due to revenues generated by its purchase last year of Mackenzie Financial.

The S&P/CDNX Composite Index closed up 7.25 at 1167.14

In New York, U.S. markets had their worst week since mid-September. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 49.81 points Friday to close at 1,663.90.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 124.34 points to 9,910.72 – its first close below 10000 since February 22. The S&P 500 slipped 15.16 points to 1,076.32.

The Canadian dollar closed at US64.03¢, up US0.13¢.