Gold and oil stocks, which had enjoyed recent gains in the face of a possible U.S.-led attack on Iraq, fell sharply Wednesday after Iraq s accepted a United Nations resolution on disarmament. The S&P/TSX composite Index fell 27.94 points to close at 6,301.78.

News of the agreement pushed investors away from gold stocks, and the TSX gold sub-index fell 4.62%.

Placer Dome was down 97¢ to $14.65. Barrick Gold fell 72¢ to $24.38, while Kinross Gold shed 13¢ to $2.95.

The news also helped to drive the TSX energy index down 2.2%, as December crude oil futures fell US71¢ to US$25.19 a barrel. EnCana fell $1.79 at $41.75, while Petro-Canada lost 50¢ to $44.40.

The information technology sector was flat with Research in Motion down 43¢to $22.57, but Nortel Networks gained 6¢ to $2.08.

The junior TSX Venture Exchange was flat at 955.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 12.49 points to close at 8,398.49 following a see-saw day that saw the average buffeted by the Iraq news and comments by Fed chair Alan Greenspan that the U.S. economy had hit a “soft patch”.

The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 11.71 points to end the day at 1,361.27.

The Canadian dollar edged lower, dropping 0.02¢ to US 63.37¢.