Industries cut back drastically on capacity use between April and June, as the impact of SARS, mad cow and a stronger Canadian dollar took their toll on the economy, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.

The industrial capacity utilization rate fell from 82.5% in the first quarter to 81.2% in the second quarter. This was the lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2001, when the rate reached 80.4%. On the plus side, says analysts, it may spur another rate cut from the Bank of Canada.

In a separate release, StatsCan reported that the New Housing Price Index rose 0.3% in July. On a 12-month basis, this index of contractors’ selling prices advanced 4.7%. This is up from June’s annual increase of 4.5% and reflects a continued strong demand for new housing. Twelve of the 21 Canadian urban communities registered monthly increases. Economists note that the increase in prices has not prevented an increase in building permits or sales.

Neither of these figures is likely to spark equities in Canada and south of the border, Wall Street futures are indicating a weak opening.

Yesterday the profit takers were out in force, draining recent gains. The Toronto index suffered its first decline of the month, losing 39.50 points to 7,596.51.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 79.09 points to close at 9,507.20. The Nasdaq composite index declined 15.19 points to 1,873.43 after hitting an 18-month high on Monday. The S&P 500 slid 8.47 to 1,023.17.

Asian markets followed suit. In Tokyo, investors sold high technology and auto stocks, reversing its recent trend of setting continuous 14-month highs. The Nikkei average decline 65.72 points overnight to 10,856.32. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell for a third straight session. It lost 2.1%.

In Europe at Wednesday midday, London’s FTSE 100 index is down 0.3%, losing 14.4 points to 4,253.3. Frankfurt is down 1% and Paris has fallen 0.9%.