Toronto stocks finished flat Thursday, but managed to resist the downward pull of weak U.S. markets. The S&P/TSX composite closed up 1.69 points at 6,336.86.

Most sectors were flat or down but the information technology sector surged 5.5%.

Nortel Networks soared 26¢ to $1.67 on heavy volume of 86.3 million shares.

Celestica rose 93¢ to $21.72, but Zarlink Semiconductor closed down 14¢ to $3.86.

Bombardier gaining 42¢to $5.15 after announcing 440 job cuts in Germany.

Consumer discretionary issues fell 1.19%, led by Magna International, down $2.96 at $87.04, and Tesma International, which slid 92¢ to $26.03.

In earnings news, Barrick Gold reported 40% drop in third-quarter net profit to $34 million. The drop was expected and Barrick shares rose 12¢ to $23.10.

Noranda shares fell 32¢ to $14.87 after a $70 million three-month loss. Noranda also announced 300 job cuts.

Toronto volume was 262.3 million shares worth $2.93 billion as advancers beat decliners 544 to 516 with 201 unchanged.

The TSX Venture Exchange slipped 4.33 points to 899.21.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 176.93 points at 8,317.34, after see-sawing throughout the session. The S&P 500 Index was down 13.62 points at 882.52.

The Nasdaq composite was off 21.57 points to 1,298.66.

The Canadian dollar closed up 0.05¢ to US63.90¢.

Statistics Canada’s leading indicator of the economy’s performance rose by 0.2% for a 14th consecutive monthly gain. Excluding the weak stock market, the composite index increased 0.5%, the same monthly advance it has posted since June.