Toronto stocks ended a holiday-shortened session on a flat note on Wednesday in a light trading day. The S&P/TSX composite index slipped 1.65 points to close at 8,136.78.

Gold stocks were the only bright spot, rising 1.17%, as bullion prices held firm.

Among golds, Goldcorp was up 32¢ at $20.35, while Placer Dome gained 35¢ at $22.49.

Toronto volume was a slight 97 million shares. Momentum was positive with advancers over decliners 619 to 479.

Bay Street will be closed for Christmas on Thursday and for Boxing Day on Friday. With many traders booking time off heading into the New Year’s Day holiday, activity is likely to be thin next week as well.

Overall, five of the TSX 10 subgroups ended lower, led down by an 0.85% decline in the tech sector. Also lower were the telecoms and health-care groups.

In the tech group, Research In Motion dipped after its 50% surge on Tuesday. RIM shares were down $3.18 at $88.80.

Among health care issues, Biovail fell 39¢ to $25.70. The company said on Wednesday it will pay $62 million to end its three-year co-promotion agreement with Reliant Pharmaceuticals, effective Dec. 31.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index rose 23.05 points to 1,689.84.

On Wall Street, stocks retreated in light holiday trading on Wednesday. News of a case of mad cow disease in the United States weighed on U.S. markets and sparked a broad selloff in the U.S. dollar against major currencies. Soft U.S. economic data also contributed to the greenback’s decline.

U.S. authorities said on Tuesday the first U.S. case of mad cow disease was found in a dairy cow in Washington state. The news prompted Japan, a top importer of U.S. beef, and a raft of other countries to ban U.S. beef imports.

The Dow Jones industrials shed 36.07 points to 10,305.19. The broader S&P 500 edged down 1.98 points to 1,094.04. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index lost 5.55 point to 1,969.23.

U.S. markets will re-open for an abbreviated session on Friday.

The Canadian dollar surged almost nine-tenths of a cent Wednesday as the American currency weakened on worse-than-expected U.S. manufacturing data and the report of mad cow disease in the U.S. The loonie closed up 0.88 of a cent to US76.49¢.