Stocks in Toronto dropped today as the market was driven down by a warning from fiber-optic gear maker JDS Uniphase Corp. The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 121.95 points, or 1.9%, at 6,080.08.

Nine of the TSX’s 10 subgroups closed lower. Tech stocks led the way down, dropping 7.5%. The financial sector was a close second, sliding down 2%.

The session began with Lehman Bros. halving its 12-month share target for Nortel Networks Corp. from $2.50 to $1.25. And JDS Uniphase lowered its first-quarter sales outlook due to continuing weakness in markets. JDS slipped 46 Canadian cents, or 12%, to C$3.36. As a result Nortel fell to its lowest level since being listed in 1974. It closed down 17¢, or 14%, to $1.05.

A slew of dour corporate forecasts and fears about a possible war with Iraq sent stocks tumbling on Monday, yanking the Nasdaq down to its lowest level since 1996 and extending the longest bear market stocks have seen in 60 years.

South of the border, the warning from JDS Uniphase Corp., as well as retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. as well as the continued threat of a second Gulf War sparked selling.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 36.16 points, or 2.96%, to 1,184.93, closing below 1,200 for the first time since September 1996. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 113.87 points, or 1.43%, to 7,872.15. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid 11.69 points, or 1.38%, to 833.70.