Toronto stocks dipped slightly Tuesday, following a triple-digit loss in the previous session, as declines in commodities were offset by gains in the technology groups.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 8.93 points, or 0.08, to 11,471.69.

Six of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were up, with the information technology group gaining 2.80% and the telecommunications services group gained 0.57%.

Nortel Networks and Microsoft announced an alliance that would combine Nortel’s IP network expertise with Microsoft software to consolidate communications functions for users. Nortel gained 15¢, or 6.76%, to $2.37 on the news.

BCE Inc. gained 8¢, or 0.30%, to $26.34.

The energy group lost 0.77%.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery dropped $1.76 to close at US$73.54 a barrel.

The materials group was up 0.12%, but the gold sub-index was off 1.27%.

Gold for August delivery ended down $22.40 at US$629.50.

The Canadian dollar lost 0.02 of a cent to close at US87.99¢.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index gave up 47.63 points, or 1.86%, to 2,509.10.

In New York, ended modestly higher, bolstered mostly by good corporate earnings, but tempered by geopolitical concerns.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 51.87 points at 10,799.23, after a hitting a low of 10,683.32 in early trading. The Nasdaq composite index rose 5.51 points to 2,043.23, while the S&P 500 ended up 2.37 points at 1,236.86.