Slumping technology shares led Toronto stocks to close flat on Wednesday. The S&P/TSX composite index ended down 1.74 points at 8,621.88 as 411 million shares were traded.

Four of the 10 TSX subgroups ended lower, led by a 2.28% decline in techs.

Tech bellwether Nortel Networks fell 13¢ to $8.87, Sierra Wireless dropped $2.33 to $29.60, while Celestica shed $1.49 to close at $25.85.

The financial sector slipped 0.12%, led lower by TD Bank, which fell 76¢ to $44.70. TD shares sagged after the bank doused hopes it may rekindle talks to merge its Waterhouse discount brokerage with another firm.

Gold stocks retreated as bullion prices faltered when Germany said it wanted to unload 600 tonnes of bullion if a central bank gold sale agreement was renewed.

The gold subgroup was off 0.3% but the materials sector, of which golds form a part, rose 0.39%.

Glamis Gold fell 52¢ to $20.67, while Bema Gold slipped 10¢ to $4.23.

Health care stocks gained 1.24%, while energy shares rose 0.28% and telecoms advanced a 0.64%.

WestJet shares fell $1 to $30.25. The airline posted a 38% jump in it fourth-quarter earnings.

CAE saw its shares rise 24¢ to $6.16 after it announced it had been selected as a “preferred bidder” for a $650 million helicopter flight training contract in Europe.

CanWest Global shares dropped $1.07 to $12.18 after it reported higher first-quarter profits that nevertheless fell short of the market’s expectations.

The junior S&P/TSX venture composite index rose 17.86 points to finish at 1,813.12.

U.S. stocks ended mixed as Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase led a broad rally in blue chips, while a pullback in tech stocks weighed on the Nasdaq composite index.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 94.96 points at 10,623.62, a new 22-month high.

The Nasdaq was down 5.53 points at 2,142.45. The S&P 500 was up 8.85 points at 1,147.62.

Shares in eBay jumped after Wednesday’s closing bell, after the company said its quarterly earnings rose nearly 40%, as a strong holiday season fueled better-than-expected sales, listings and online payments.

The Canadian dollar slipped against the U.S. greenback hurt by this mornings’s weak domestic manufacturing report. The loonie closed at US76.88¢, down from Tuesday’s finish at US77.48¢.