Toronto stocks closed lower again Wednesday, as tech issues succumbed to warnings from the microchip sector. The S&P/TSX composite index finished down 60.59 points at 6,560.

The TSX information technology sector fell 6.45 % after graphics chip manufacturer ATI Technologies reported disappointing earnings and lowered revenue expectations, while U.S. chip-maker Micron Technology Inc. reported an unexpectedly steep loss.

ATI finished down $2.18 at $7.70. Tech bellwether Nortel Networks fell in sympathy, dropping 26¢ to $2.60. Celestica slid $1.53 to finish at $21.76.

Also in the sector, BCE Emergis fell $2.45 $7.50 after the electronic commerce company forecast slightly lower revenues for 2003.

BCE Inc. plans 1,700 job cuts at Bell Canada next year, as the country’s biggest telecommunications conglomerate focuses on efficiency, simplicity and its core communications businesses.

BCE Inc. shares fell 15¢ to $27.61 after the company assured investors it’s on track to meet expectations for this year and expects a per-share profit of $1.85 to $1.95 in 2003, up from $1.80 this year.

The company plans to cut 1,700 jobs at its Bell Canada subsidiary next year. The cuts, representing 3.8% of the phone company’s workforce, will be done largely through “voluntary” measures such as buyouts and early retirements,

Gold stocks rose as the December gold contract on the New York Commodity Exchange closed at US$342.50 an ounce, up US$5.10.

But gold giant Barrick saw its shares lose 20¢ to close at $24.45, after an announcement that the company is being sued, along with JP Morgan Chase, for manipulating the price of gold. The suit was brought by Blanchard and Co, the largest retail dealer in physical gold in the U.S.

Shares in Canada’s biggest oilfield services company, Precision Drilling, plunged $3.72 to $52.90 after the company cut its profit outlook for the current quarter by more than two-thirds, citing weak results at home and abroad.

Toronto volume was 245.6 million shares worth $2.86 billion. Decliners beat advancers 632 to 512, with 221 unchanged.

The junior TSX Venture Exchange edged up 6.26 points to 1,008.6.

In New York, stocks slid for a second straight day as rising tensions over Iraq’s arms declaration pushed market gauges to month lows, and the loss at Micron pulled shares lower.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 88.04 points at 8,447.35. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 11.87 points at 891.12. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was down 30.55 points at 1,361.50.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.15 of a cent at US64.42¢.