Stocks in Toronto closed lower on Monday. They were pulled down by weak performance among consumer and industrial stocks. The Toronto Stock Exchange 300 composite index finished 47.12 points lower at 7,582.50.

Today’s drop was the sixth straight, tying the TSE’s losing streak in June 2001 – another six-day decline. Overall, 11 of the 14 TSE sub-indices fell.

The consumer product sub-index fell 7.20%. It was pulled down by sector heavyweight such Biovail Corp. That stock closed at its lowest level in almost a year. It fell $14.91, or a whopping 20.6%, to $57.60. The company has come under fire from analysts who have questioned the quality of the company’s earnings and criticized it for delays in new drug filings. Meanwhile, Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc. added to the decline, dropping $2.85 to $59.25.

The industrial products sector fell 1%, hurt by weakness in the U.S. telecom sector. In Canada, Research In Motion Ltd. fell $1.28 to $26.97. BCE Emergis slipped $1.20 to $11.75.

In business news, Manulife Financial Corp. reported higher first-quarter profits. The company’s performance was boosted by strong pension, variable annuity and life products sales within its U.S. division. The Canadian insurer finished 71¢ at $44.10. The company’s earning report also boosted the financial services sector to a 0.24% gain during today’s trading.

The S&P/CDNX Composite Index closed down 4.15 at 1162.99. Trading was heavy on a volume of 37.1 million shares worth 16.6 million dollars, with 202 advances, 252 declines and 566 issues unchanged.

South of the border, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 90.85 points to 9,819.87, while the NASDAQ composite index dipped 6.96 points to 1,656.93.