Toronto stocks fell sharply Tuesday as metal shares tumbled and other sectors were hit with profit taking.

The TSE 300 composite index tumbled 88.20 points, or 1.12%, to 7,782

Just three of the TSE’s 14 sub-indices eked out gains — paper, pipelines and merchandising — each of which advanced less than 1%.

Metals and minerals lost 2.9% thanks to a fourth-quarter loss posted by Alcoa. This was the firstly quarterly loss reported by the aluminum giant in almost eight years.

Alcan fell in sympathy with Aloca, shedding $2.15, or 3.5%, to $58.60, while Inco dropped 33¢ to $27.90.

Electronics maker Celestica Inc. was as source of some good news, after it said it would buy two telecom equipment factories from Japan’s NEC Corp. Celestica gained $1.07 to $71.88.

ATI Technologies gained up 50¢ $24.50.

Financial services stocks slipped 0.9% mainly due to growing investor caution regarding Scotiabank’s exposure to Argentina’s financial crisis. Scotia shares fell $1.18 to $48.74.

Gold stocks fell 2.2%.

Market momentum was negative with declining issues stepping on advances 567 to 517. Market volume was average at 151 million shares. Market volume was 151 million shares.

Trading was heavy on the Canadian Venture Exchange. Volume was 41.5 million shares, with 175 advances and 215 declines. The S&P/CDNX composite index closed down 5.28 at 1,084.34 .

In New York, blue chips were weighed down by less-than-stellar profit report from Alcoa, while tech shares made posted gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished down 46.50 points at 10,150.55. The Nasdaq composite index gained 18.63 points to 2,055.73, and the S&P 500 was off 4.18 points at 1,160.71.