Toronto stocks plunged deeper late in the session on Monday, as tech shares followed the influential Nasdaq index downward, erasing a week’s worth of gains in Toronto in one fell swoop.

The TSE 300 closed down 108.62 points, or 1.55%, at 6,896.30, as drooping tech stocks were aided and abetted by a financial sector smarting from continued bad news about loan loss provisions.

Electronics manufacturer Celestica Inc. led the tech sector down, falling 10%, or $6.30, to $54.50, while tech bellwether Nortel Networks Corp. also obliged the downward trend, shedding 52 cents, or 5.3%, to finish at $9.23.

Fuel cell manufacturer Ballard Power also provided drag, sinking $5.36, or 11%, to close at $43.04, as the tech sector dropped 4.18% as a whole.

Overall, 12 of the 14 TSE 300 subindexes declined, as the financial services sector, which makes up 30% of the TSE300, fell 1.48%, as a Friday announcement of increased loan loss provisions at Bank of Montreal sapped investor confidence in the sector.

Individually Bank of Montreal fell $1.90, or 5.4%, to $32.80, while Toronto-Dominion Bank lost $1.25, or 3.4%, to $35.65.

Trading was active on the CDNX today with a volume of 26.4 million shares, with 157 advances, 198 declines and 574 issues unchanged. The index closed down 21.15 at 2944.00.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 275.67 points, or 2.9%, at 9,269.50.

The Nasdaq plunged 69.38 points, or 3.9%, to 1,699.58. The tech sector took a beating, with semiconductor and chip-equipment stocks cracking under the pressure of semiconductor price cuts.

The S&P 500 Index dipped 2.4%.