Toronto stocks drifted lower Wednesday as investors mulled over the latest crop of earnings reports. The S&P/TSX composite index slipped 6.74 points to end at 6,481.44.

The heavily weighted financial index led with a 0.6% drop. Bank of Montreal dropped 27¢ to $40.55, while Bank of Nova Scotia slipped 9¢ to $53.95.

TD Bank lost 41¢to $34.20 and Manulife was off 77¢ at $37.56.

A 2.6% jump in technology stocks was not enough to prop up the market.

Celestica jumped 74¢, or 5.3%, to $14.84, gaining back some of the ground lost in the previous session after reporting a weaker than expected first-quarter profit on Tuesday.

Research In Motion gained 55¢ to close at $21.15.

In earnings news, Alcan gained 42¢ to $43.51 after it said its first-quarter operating profit topped analysts’ expectations.

Inco said late on Tuesday that demand for nickel resulted in a higher first-quarter profit and that it would meet 2003 production estimates. Inco shares closed up 3¢ at $27.73, after climbing to a session high of $28.28 earlier in the day.

Sears Canada reported a first-quarter profit of $11.4 million with an 8.7% revenue decline as the retailer cut back on discounts and promotions. Its shares were marked down 65¢ to $14.58.

Overall, TSX declines edged advances 547 to 537 with 214 issues unchanged. Volume was 218.9 million shares worth $2.2 billion.

The TSX Venture Exchange faded 1.30 points to 1,036.60.

In New York, blue chips ended sharply lower, dragged down by a disappointing earnings report from soft drink icon Coca-Cola and a drop in shares of 3M, after an investment bank cut its earnings estimates on the industrial conglomerate.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished down 144.75 points at 8,257.61. The S&P 500 ended down 10.90 points, or 1.22%, at 879.91.

The Nasdaq composite index was up 3.71 points at1,394.72, lifted by Intel and Microsoft after both companies reported earnings that raised investors’ hopes that the worst may be over for the sector.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.21 of cent to US68.77¢ on news of indications of weakness in the economy. Canadian manufacturers reported a 0.9% decline in monthly shipments.