Markets opened lower Wednesday as investors reacted to earnings warnings from several technology firms. They managed to rally back, only to slump at the end of the session following an escalation of hostilities in the Middle East.

The S&P/TSX index finished down 79.8 points on the day to 7247.8. Volume was on the light side at 164.8 million shares. Market breadth was also notably negative, with losers outnumbering winners by about four to three.

The biggest slides came in techs and telecoms, as earnings warnings from Apple and AMD helped spook traders. The TSX technology group lost about 5% on the day, with telecoms losing about half that.

The weakness was widespread though, as more bombings and Israeli responses in Gaza helped scare off the buyers. Financials, consumer stocks, industrials and utilities all closed down on the day. Only health care stocks held up with any conviction.

The big loser was ATI Technologies, which finished down about 30% in heavy trading on news of its actual results. The firm recorded adjusted net income of US$19.2 million in the third quarter. Under generally accepted accounting principles, the firm suffer at net loss of US$2 million.

Joining ATI on the downside was GSI Lumonics, Zarlink Semiconductor, Ballard Power and BCE.

The weakness in techs and telecoms trickled down to the banks too, where TD Bank dropped 1.5%. CIBC shed 1.8%. Scotia was down a little too, but Royal Bank boasted a small gain on the day.

Other losers include Molson, Transat, WestJet and Metro.

The upside included golds today. While big name player Barrick was down on the day, some of the smaller producers got some positive attention, including Bema Gold, Glamis Gold, Eldorado Gold and Echo Bay Mines.

There were also gains in Westaim, First Calgary Petroleums, Wheaton River MInerals, Canadian Medical Labs and Mosaic Group.

Transforce finished up 12.7% on the day, despite issuing a statement that it “knows of no particular development which could explain the increase, it continues to examine acquisition opportunities, consistent with its acquisition strategy of the past several years, and various options to maximize shareholder value.”

In financing news, Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada filed a final prospectus supplement for an offering of $800 million of subordinated debentures. And, Sun Life Capital Trust filed a final prospectus for an offering of $200 million of a second series of Sun Life exchangeable capital securities.

In New York, the song was much the same. The Dow Jones industrial average had a rough day, falling 144.5 points to 9,561.5. The S&P 500 dropped 17.1 points to finish at 1,020. And, the Nasdaq composite index fell hardest, shedding 46.1 points to close at 1,496.8.

The small caps fared a bit better than the big boards today, enjoying some of the late flight to gold. The S&P/TSX Venture index still finished 3.1 points lower at 1187.5. Volume was average at 34.5 million shares. American Bonanza Gold led the way, with a 1¢ gain to 19¢ on almost 1.1 million shares.