Markets decided to lock in profits Thursday, one day after hitting 32-month high on Wall Street and after posting five consecutive days of gains on Bay Street.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 42.49 points, or 0.49%, to 8725.04 on volume of 324.4 million shares. The TSX Venture Exchange composite index was up 9.53 points, or 0.5%, to 1895.97.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 10694.13, down 43.56 points or 0.4%. The Nasdaq composite index fell to 2073.60, down 16.06 points or 0.7% on the day, while the broadly based S&P 500 fell 5.66 points or 0.5% to 1152.10.

Wall Street’s tumble came after bullish comments from Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. He repeated comments made Wednesday that the U.S. economy was poised for vigorous, lasting growth. Those remarks helped send the Dow Jones industrial average to its highest level in 32 months.

But on Thursday disappointing reports on jobs and U.S. car sales dampened investor enthusiasm slightly before markets opened, news that was partially offset by evidence that consumers are spending more money, more often.

Canadian markets were off despite a bullish report from the Conference Board of Canada. It said its latest consumer confidence survey showed business confidence is at its highest level in three years and that Canadian consumers also were confident — more so in January than at any point in 2003.

“Optimism in the economy was reflected in the business confidence survey, with Canadian firms more willing to invest,” the board said. Almost 63% of respondents indicated a willingness to undertake investment – a jump of 18.8 percentage points from last quarter and the strongest increase in three years.

In other news, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board said the money it made during its third quarter, ended Dec. 31, 2003, enabled it to move from a loss to a gain on its cumulative market investments since early 2002. Going into the latest quarter, the investment board had accumulated a loss of more than $1.2 billion from the market meltdowns early this decade. But a $2.8-billion gain in the quarter wiped that out, leaving the fund with an accumulated profit of nearly $1.6 billion.

The U.S. dollar continued to slide against most major foreign currencies. The euro rose to US$1.2810, close to its record high of US$1.2898 last month, while the Canadian dollar slid to US75.83¢ after Bank of Canada governor David Dodge seemed comfortable with a stronger loonie. London gold closed at $412.10 an ounce. up $3.50.