Toronto stocks closed lower on Thursday weighed down by slumping gold shares. The S&P/TSX composite index fell 88.84 points to finish at 7,513.50.

The gold index was the biggest decliner, falling 3.3%. Gold futures slid US$2.50 an ounce to close at US$385.90 an ounce, reversing earlier gains.

Barrick Gold fell 66¢ to $26.15; Placer Dome slid 60¢ to $19.

Individual stocks that beat the downtrend included Hudson Bay Co. Its shares rose 33¢ to $9.48. after the retailer unveiled a major shift in focus designed to triple its profits by 2008.

Corus Entertainment said it will beat its financial targets for 2003 and said the earnings outlook for next year looks even better. Corus shares rose 10¢ to $23.60.

Research in Motion shares gained $1.23 to $48.23 ahead of its earnings release.

After the bell, the maker of the popular BlackBerry wireless e-mail device, reported a second quarter profit of US$2.1 million, compared to last year’s loss of US$8.2 million. Revenues in the quarter surged 71% to US$125.7, in line with earlier guidance.

Maple Leaf Foods shares rose 38¢ to $10.38 on news that it will buy Schneiders for $515 million.

Toronto volume was 295.5 million shares worth $3.3 billion, and momentum was negative with 657 issues declining and 546 advancing.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite exchange fell 10.67 points to close at 1,391.69.

On Wall Street, market gauges ended at their lowest levels in about a month following the release of a mixed batch of economic data and a dividend cut by Eastman Kodak

Orders for durable goods fell unexpectedly in August, while weekly jobless claims showed an unexpectedly big drop. The jobs data, however, was skewed by the impact of Hurricane Isabel.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 81.55 points to 9,343.96, while the broader S&P 500 fell 6.12 points, or 0.61 percent, to 1,003.26. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index dropped 26.50 points to 1,817.20.

The Canadian dollar inched higher against the U.S. greenback. The loonie finished at US74.15¢, up from US74.10¢, at Wednesday’s close.