Markets tumble on renewed terrorism fears
TSX, Dow bear triple-digit declines

North American market indices plunged Monday in the face of threats of revenge by the militant Palestine organization Hamas for the killing of its leader.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 105.33 points at 8,478.48, Declines beat advances 868 to 433 with 183 unchanged. Today’s volume was moderate, with 224 million shares changing hands.

Toronto’s benchmark index is now 4.6% off its 2004 high. Today’s decline was led by a 4% drop in the information technology sector.

Nortel Networks lost 47¢ to $6.96, even as Verizon Wireless announced it will spend US$167 millionfor Nortel broadband technology.

Other tech losers included Zarlink Semiconductor, off 17¢ to $4.64, and Research In Motion, down $8.31 at $120.41.

Energy issues fell 1% with the price of oil easing as OPEC debated whether to delay a planned production cut to cool red-hot oil prices.

Nexen fell $1.23 to $50.39, while and Suncor Energy dropped 57¢ to $36.20.

The metals and mining sector also fell 2.45%, with Inco down $2.02 to $44.50 and Falconbridge dipping $1.18 to $34.27.

Even the usual safe have, gold stocks, closed down 0.22%, as Barrick Gold shed 38¢ to $29.26 and Miramar Mining slumped 13¢ to $2.34.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped 7.52 points at 1,866.92.

On Wall Street, stocks slid to new lows for for the year.It was the third-straight session of losses, sending major stock indexes down more than 1% to their lowest levels since December.

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 100 points for the second session in a row. The Dow fell 121.85 points, or 1.20%, to 10,064.75, just above the 10,000 milestone.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index sank 30.56 points, or 1.57%, to 1,909.91. The broader S&P 500 lost 14.34 points, or 1.29%, at 1,095.44.

The now Nasdaq is down more than 11% from its 2004 closing peak in late January. The Dow is off more than 6% from its 2004 high in mid-February.

The Canadian dollar edged up 0.04¢ to US75.99¢. The American dollar declined as Hamas vowed revenge against Israel and the United States after the killing of the Hamas leader.