North American markets fell Wednesday as investors moved to lock in profits in the wake of weak corporate earnings reports. The S&P/TSX composite Index shed 56.76 points to close at 7,711.24.

The decline was broad-based with only the TSX gold index posting an advance. It rose a paltry 0.2%.

Information technology stocks led the decliners, down 1.8%.

Within the sector Research in Motion fell $2.31 to $57.10; and ATI Technologies dropped 89¢ to $19.36.

Alcan shares shed $1.93 to $53 after the aluminum giant reported its third-quarter net income fell by almost 50% as the higher Canadian dollar hurt the company’s bottom line.

Potash Corp. shares fell $6.26 to $101.28 after the company reported a third-quarter loss of almost US$186 million and said it would cut 190 U.S. jobs.

Abitibi-Consolidated slipped 15¢ to $8.85 as the paper giant reported a big Q3 loss because of the surging loonie.

Shell Canada reported its Q3 profits were 58% higher thanks to higher commodity prices. However, its shares still fell 90¢ to $54.40 as crude oil futures slipped.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index bucked the down trend, rising 5.03 points to 1,466.24.

In New York, U.S. markets were hurt by some disappointing earnings reports, especially from drug giant Merck, which announced 4,400 job cuts.

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average dropped 149.40 points to 9,598.24.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 42.83 points to 1,898.07, while the broader S&P 500 slid 15.67 points to 1,030.36.

The Canadian dollar surged to US76.69¢, up 0.72¢ of a cent. That’s a new 10-year high for the currency.