Investors sold off stocks on Friday n advance of Monday’s release of the report by the chief UN weapons inspector on Iraq. The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 72.53 points to close at 6,664.90.

The TSX decline was partially offset by surging gold stocks and renewed strength in tech bellwether Nortel Networks

The gold index jumped 2.1% higher as New York gold futures rose to US$368.40 US an ounce. Barrick Gold added 64¢ cents to $26, while Kinross Gold gained 21¢ to $3.98.

The information technology index rose 1.11%, boosted by heavily traded Nortel. The stock rose 24¢ $3.90 on a volume of 105 million shares.

Software maker Open Text’s shares rose $2.68 to $42.38 after it posted much stronger profits and raised its guidance.

The heavily weighted financial services index fell 1.6%. Every one of the big banks ended lower, with Royal Bank off $1.25 to $56 and TD Bank down 81¢ to $33.23.

In other corporate news, plastics company Royal Group Technologies warned that its first-quarter profit will fall well short of its previous forecast. Its shares fell $2.28 to $13.01.

TSX declines outnumbered advances 654 to 449, with 213 unchanged. TSX volume was 289.7 million shares with a value of $2.6 billion.

The TSX Venture Exchange edged up 3.13 points to 1,129.81.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 238.46 points to 8,131.01. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 46.14 points to 1,342.13. The S&P 500 lost 25.93 to 861.41.

The Canadian dollar rose another US0.29¢ to US65.86¢, as investors dumped U.S. dollars.