Toronto stocks closed lower for the third straight session on Wednesday dragged down by sagging tech stocks. The S&P/TSX composite index fell 50.48 points to 7,139.06.

The information technology sector closed 2% lower, while the heavily weighted financial index dropped 1%.

ATI Technologies, downgraded to “hold” from “buy” by Research Capital after a recent stock price run-up, fell 50¢ to $15.80.

Research In Motion slipped 80¢ to $34.40 as Bear Stearns cut its rating after a U.S. court issued an injunction banning U.S. sales of RIM’s popular BlackBerry e-mail device, though the injunction was immediately stayed by the court pending an appeal.

Technology stocks also suffered after bellwether Cisco Systems reported a rise in profit late on Tuesday but failed to top analyst expectations.

Gold stocks climbed 2% gain, lifted by the rising price for bullion.

Barrick Gold closed 35¢ higher at $24.60, while Bema Gold rose 19¢ to $2.60.

Market momentum in Toronto was negative as decliners topped advancers 595 to 526. Volume was moderate as 196 million shares valued at $2.55 billion changed hands.

The junior TSX Venture composite index edged up 1.83 points to 1,214.65.

U.S. markets closed mixed. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 25.42 points to 9,061.74, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index dropped 20.82 points, or 1.24%, to 1,652.68. The S&P 500 rose 1.62 points to 967.08.

The Canadian dollar finished marginally lower on Wednesday. The loonie slipped to US71.24¢, down slightly from US71.27¢, at Tuesday’s close.