A big drop in Nortel Networks shares has the TSX down sharply Friday. At midday, the S&P/TSX composite index is off 68.55 points at 8,477.03.

Nortel shares are down 62 cents to $6.07 following a Wall Street Journal story about tech bellwether’s faulty accounting.


On the TSX, other tech decliners included Celestica, down $1.76 to $24.93, and ATI Technologies, off $1.16 to $24.

Active stocks included Wheaton River Minerals, up 5¢ to $3.79, a nd Manulife Financial, off 18¢ to $53.37.

In earnings news, cable firm Cogeco Inc. reported its quarterly profit soared 41.2% to $3.8 million. Its shares are down 5¢ to $19.45.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index is ahead 1.09 points at 1,571.44.

South of the border, an unexpected drop in job creation has U.S. stocks lower.

The American economy added roughly 112,000 new positions in June – less than half the growth that economists were anticipating. The unemployment rate held steady at 5.6%.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average is down 53.91 points at 10,280.25. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index is off 11.39 points at 2,004.16, while the broader S&P 500 is down 3.19 points at 1,125.75.