North American stock markets slumped again on Tuesday as earnings season geared up and investors reacted coolly to U.S. President George Bush’s speech on corporate responsibility.

The TSX Composite finished the day down 57.14 points to close at 7024.84, despite a surge among gold issues.

The information technology group fell 3.5%, while the influential financial services index slipped 1%.

Gold stocks rose up 5.6%, as many investors sought refuge from markets buffeted by accounting scandals and global political tensions.

Much of the day’s focus was on Bush’s speech in New York, where he called for “new era of integrity in corporate America.”

Bush proposed increased jail time for those convicted of financial fraud, and asked for more money to bolster the enforcement arm of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

However, market reaction to Bush’s speech was tepid at best. Stocks sold off during his speech and slumped throughout the afternoon.

Adding pressure to stocks was a downgrade by Merrill Lynch of 13 companies in the semiconductor industry.

Among Toronto stocks, ATI Technologies fell 23¢ to $10.52, while Nortel Networks shed 13¢ to $2.31.

Biovail shares plunged 8%, closing at $36. Early on Monday, Andrx Corp. said it had worked a settlement to the litigation it has with Biovail. But after the close of trading on Monday, Biovail said a settlement had not been worked out and that negotiations with Andrx are still ongoing.

Co-Steel picked up 36¢ to close at $5.46 after the company said its second-quarter results are expected to beat market estimates.

Basis100 shares fell 23çto $1.30 after the company cut its guidance for the second quarter, citing delays in booking revenue.

Shares of EnCana dropped 12ç to $46.80 after the company said it will sell two Western Canadian oil pipelines to raise funds for exploration.

Market momentum was negative as 535 issues declined and 502 advanced on a light volume of 155 million shares.

Small cap stocks also benefitted from investors’ flight to gold. The TSX Venture Exchange was up 11.83 points to 1,157.11.

On Wall Street, following negative comments from analysts on the software and semiconductor sectors and a muted response to President Bush’s speech on corporate governance, sellers took control.

The Dow Jones industrial average slumped 178.81 points to end at 9,096.09. The Nasdaq composite index closed at 1381.14 following a loss of 24.47 points. The S&P 500 dropped 24.15 points to 952.83.

The Canadian dollar rose 0.47¢ to US66.13¢.