Stock markets finished mixed Tuesday as investors engaged in profit-taking amid muted reaction to U.S. President George Bush’s economic stimulus plan.

Weaker energy and gold stocks pushed the S&P/TSX composite index down 34.49 points to 6,802.78.

The price of oil eased after OPEC announced an emergency meeting this weekend to discuss boosting the group’s production by up to 6.5% to deal with a dropoff in Venezuelan exports and a possible war in Iraq. EnCana closed down $1.53 to $47.88.

The price of gold also continued to recede, from a nearly six-year high, closing at US$347.30 in New York. Barrick Gold dropped 55¢ to $23.95.

The information technology stocks were among the day’s winners. Nortel Networks rose 11¢ to $3.26 on 34.4 million shares traded. Celestica gained $1.37 to $26.77 and Zarlink Semiconductor was up 34¢ to $4.66.

Shares in the drug research company Sybsorb rocketed up 169%, gaining $1.44 to $2.29, after an investor group led by former PanCanadian Energy CEO David Tuer proposed to convert it into an oil and gas enterprise.

WestJet Airlines slipped 17¢ to $15.82 after it announced temporary surcharges to compensate for higher fuel prices.

Toronto volume was 255.7 million shares worth $3.18 billion. Declines outnumbered advances 589 to 524 with 172 unchanged.

The TSX Venture Exchange backed off 6.78 points to 1,095.37.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 32.98 points to 8,740.59 as traders digested the plan unveiled by Bush.

The package, valued at $674 billion US over 10 years, would provide sweeping tax cuts and incentives, including elimination of federal taxation of stock dividends.

The Nasdaq rose composite index rose 10.25 points to 1,431.57 while the S&P 500 was off 6.08 points at 922.93.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.13¢ to US64.00¢.