Stocks in Toronto ended up in the black today, but just barely. Concern about a potential conflict with Iraq is keeping investors on the sidelines. The Toronto Stock Exchange S&P/TSX composite index closed just 5.35 points higher at 6,500.61.

Six of the 10 TSX subgroups closed with small gains. But technology stocks slid 4.3% and industrial fells 1.4 %, dragging down the index. Volume was a light 130 million shares worth $1.63 billion. The thin volume was largely attributed to many market players booking off to celebrate Yom Kippur. Declining issues topped advancers 522 to 487 with another 227 unchanged.

Last week Lucent Technologies Inc. said its results would be much worse than analysts had feared. More job cuts were projected. This was still being felt today when Lucent rival Nortel Networks finished the day down 7¢, or 4.7 %, at $1.43, Celestica Inc. fell $3.23, or 9.5%, to $30.70.

Gold-mining issues benefited from war speculation. That sector added 1.7%. Goldcorp shares rose 61¢ to $18.61, while the shares of Placer Dome Inc. pushed up 19¢ to $17.14.

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index closed down 9.57 at 999.53. Trading was moderate on a volume of 22.3 million shares worth 6.4 million dollars, with 129 advances, 195 declines and 519 issues unchanged.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 67.49 points at 8,380.18. The Nasdaq composite index fell 15.52 points to 1,275.88.