Stocks in Toronto suffered today as profit-takers turned out in force to take advantage of a spike in resource stock prices due to the Middle East tensions. The Toronto Stock Exchange 300 composite index fell 48.60 points, finishing the day at 7,844.80.

Nine of the TSE’s 14 sub-indices fell. Yesterday’s safe haven – gold – was the site of today’s siege. Golds fell 3.2%.
Barrick Gold declined $1 to $28.82, and Placer Dome was off 64 cents to $18.81.

The oil and gas indice dropped 1.6%. Hurricane Hydrocarbons fell $1.09 to $21.55. Petro-Canada slid 92¢ to $41.20.

Industrial products fell 0.9% as index leader, Nortel Networks declined 18¢ to $6.90 after it was reported that a few of the company’s customers may be unable to pay their bills, throwing Nortel’s comeback into jeopardy. It was a bad day for BCE Inc., too, as the company’s stock reversed some recent gains. It fell 22¢ to $28.88.

On the bright side, Bombardier’s shares rose 28¢ to $14.98 after it announced that its transportation division received a $40 million order for railway cars from a French company.

The Canadian Venture Exchange fell, too, today. It dropped 5.92 to 1,179.50.

South of the border, the Dow Jones industrial index declined 88.09 points to 10,225.62. The NASDAQ composite index fell 19.97 points to 1,784.43. The S&P 500 slid back 9.68 points to 1,127.08.