Declines in base metals and information technology shares sent Toronto stocks lower Monday. TheS&P/TSX composite index fell 17.20 points, or 0.18% to end at 9,653.97.

Volume was 104 million shares.

Seven of the 10 TSX main groups closed lower, led by a 2.47% drop among technology shares and 0.91% slide in the materials group.

ATI Technologies weighed on the IT group after the graphics chip maker cut its third-quarter sales forecast and issued a worse-than-expected fourth-quarter outlook

AT shares plunged $2.02, or 10.61%, to finish at $17.01.

Among metals stocks, Inco fell 63¢, or 1.60%, to $38.63, while Noranda gave up 34¢, or 1.57%, at $21.32.

Energy issues rose 0.29% even as crude oil futures fell below US$55 a barrel Monday following last week’s sharp advance.

Petro-Canada shares slipped 22¢ to $71.48 after the company agreed to a $62.5-million deal to become an official sponsor for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

Shares of Precision Drilling Corp. tumbled more than 2%, or 84¢, to $39.95, after the company surprised investors by announcing the US$2.3 billion sale of two of its major divisions.

Among individual stocks shares in Rona Inc. fell $1.83, 7%, to $23.85 after U.S. rival Lowe’s Cos. Inc. said it plans to expand into the Canadian retail market, opening six to 10 stores in the Toronto area in 2007.

The junior S&P/ TSX Venture composite index declined 3.46 points, or 0.21%, to 1,677.27.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks eked out a modest gain Monday, even as a slew of multibillion-dollar merger deals did little to encourage buying.

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average rose 6.06, or 0.06%, to 10,467.03.

Broader stock indicators were narrowly higher. The S&P 500 index was up 1.49, or 0.12%, at 1,197.51, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 4.33, or 0.21%, to 2,075.76.