By Gavin Adamson

(April 11 – 18:00 ET) – Investors continued to sell off technology stocks in favour of blue chips with solid earnings histories.

The Toronto Stock Exchange dropped by 113.62 points today to 4,018.48. It was weighed down by big losses in BCE and Nortel. Techs like JDS Uniphase, Research in Motion, speculative stocks in the sense that neither has reported earnings, were hit hard. JDS lost C$12 to $149. Certicom also dropped $13.95 to $140.05. While BCE gave up C$6.35 to $170.06, and Nortel deflated by $8.10 to $170.06, other sectors capped the TSE 300 losses.

Investors looked to financial issues for clear earnings potential. The Royal Bank notched up by C$2.30 to $72.15. The Bank of Montreal added $1.60 to $53.35, and Toronto-Dominion Bank found 45¢, to $35.80.

Alcan Aluminum added C$3 to $50, Bombardier edged up 45¢ to $37.80 and Canadian National Railways closed $1.65 higher, to $42.15.

The CDNX’s tech index dropped by another 4% as well. The Oil & Gases slipped by 1.2%, led by Montello Resource, which lost 6% to 32¢ on heavy volume.

The Nasdaq was dragged down 125.58 points to 4062.62 by sinking telecom and computer stocks. The index is down nearly 20% since its record mark earlier in the quarter. Although Motorola isn’t on the index, the company issued an earnings warning today, and similar stocks followed the chip maker down.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average picked up the loose change, adding 114.48 points to 11,301.04. Financials and blue chips industrials performed well, led by GE. Minnesota Mining Co and 3M saw lots of action. The S&P added 3.7 points to 1500.69.

Key inflation figures in the U.S., the producer and consumer price indices, will be released on Thursday and Friday.