Another record high for oil prices dampened investor enthusiasm on Wall Street Tuesday morning and combined with lower gold prices to push Bay Street lower, too.

At midday, Toronto markets were down on the first day back after the Thanksgiving Day holiday. The S&P/TSX was down 37.74 points or 0.43% to 8777.15, while the TSX Venture exchange slipped 14.92 points or 0.88% to 1681.23.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrials were off 29.79 points or 0.30% to 10052.18. The Nasdaq was down 9.26 points or 0.48% to 1919.50 and the S&P 500 was off 4.62 points or 0.41% at 1119.77.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.37 of a cent at US79.50¢.

U.S. crude oil set a record above US$54 a barrel on Tuesday, marking a sixth successive day of record peaks, as a fire at Nigerian export pipeline became the latest threat to consumers’ efforts to build winter heating fuel inventories.

On Bay Street, gold and technology issues led the market lower. Gold shares were down 2.8% as gold futures slipped; December gold was down US$7.20 at US$416.20 an ounce in New York. Tech stocks were trading 1.14% lower.

Oil stocks were down 0.34%, despite the jump in crude prices, as investors locked in profits. Financials, up 0.15%, and industrials, up 0.42%, were the only sub0idices in the black Tuesday morning.

In New York, buying sentiment was also subdued by unimpressive earnings reports from Merrill Lynch and electronics giant Phillips.

Third-quarter earnings at brokerage giant Merrill Lynch slipped 8% to US$920 million due to a slowdown in transactions, but its shares traded 84¢ higher at US$51.84.

The quarterly report from Philips Electronics also depressed markets, particularly techs. Profits soared to 1.17 billion euros in the third quarter, up from 124 million euros a year earlier, thanks in part to gains on selling shares in other companies. However, sales of consumer electronics were weak and the company said computer chip sales would be flat in the fourth quarter. Its shares lost $1.01 to $22.56 US.

The news was better at health care giant Johnson & Johnson where profits rose 13% as worldwide sales ran up 10.5%. Net income came in at US$2.34 billion, or 78¢ per share, which beat analyst expectations by 2¢ and its shares were ahead 90¢ at US$56.26.

While oil prices are more than 80% higher than a year ago, they are still about $26 below the peak inflation-adjusted price reached in 1981. Underlying daily jitters is that excess available output is scant, with global production capacity only about 1% above the daily demand.

Meantime, the International Energy Agency, a Paris-based energy watchdog for oil-consuming countries, on Tuesday raised its demand forecast for 2004 to 82.4 million barrels per day, on average, an increase of 240,000 barrels per day.

The IEA said it expects demand to be 83.9 million barrels per day in 2005, down slightly from previous estimates as the growing appetite for crude in China tapers off.

In Nigeria, a nationwide strike to protest higher fuel prices began Monday, shutting down most of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.

Royal Dutch/Shell Group said its Nigerian output would be cut by 20,000 barrels a day due to a ruptured pipeline, though a London-based spokesman for the company said the problem did not appear to be related to the labor strife. Otherwise, the country’s output of 2.5 million barrels per day has not been affected.

Traders are jittery nevertheless because Nigeria produces low-sulfur crude, which is in high demand for the production of transport fuels.

Overseas, Tokyo’s Nikkei average fell 147.54 points, or 1.3%, to 11,201.81.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng slipped 53.54 points to 13,251.59.

London’s FTSE 100 lost 43.9 points at 4,641.6.

Frankfurt’s DAX30 declined 1.7% while the Paris CAC 40 lost 1.35%.