Toronto stocks avoided a selloff Monday as rising gold shares partially offset the damage dealt by the slumping U.S. dollar. The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 35.70 points at 7,566.51.

Information technology stocks fared the worst, sliding 1.7%.

Nortel was down 18¢ to $6.06; Cognos fell $1.81 to $42.99.

Health care stocks were down 0.5%. Angiotech Pharma fell 81¢ to $64.54.

Biomira slumped 40¢ to $2.74 after it announced a stock and warrant issue worth $16.3 million US.

The 2.1% gain in The TSX gold index rose 2.1% as gold futures in New York rose US$5.40 to US$388.30 an ounce.

Meridian Gold gained 72¢ to $17.97; Barrick Gold advanced 18¢ to $27.07.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped 1.77 points to 1,382.23.

U.S. markets tumbled along with the U.S. dollar. Markets fell after a weekend G-7 meeting called for more flexibility in exchange rates.

The Dow Jones industrial average slid 109.48 points to 9,535.34. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 31.20 points to 1,874.50.

The broader S&P 500 fell 13.68 points to 1,022.62.

The Canadian dollar continued its recent rise, gaining 0.22¢ to US74.24¢.

The loonie lost some of its earlier gains after disappointing retail sales figures were released by Statistics Canada.