TORONTO, March 15 (Reuters) - Toronto's main equity index ended slightly higher on Thursday but below session highs as investors failed to ride a wave of optimism triggered by a speck of good news in the telecoms sector and strong performances by overseas markets.
The Toronto Stock Exchange 300 composite index ended up 16.22 points, or 0.21 percent, at 7823.10 after sharp declines earlier this week. A lower than usual volume of 128.4 million shares worth C$2.6 billion changed hands.
Market momentum was negative with 558 shares falling and 521 rising. Overall, six of the 14 subindexes of the TSE 300 ended higher.
"We have seen selling into strength and that pattern has not changed in the last few weeks," said Elvis Picardo, an analyst at Global Securities Corp. in Vancouver.
"It looks like whatever rallies we are seeing could be attributed to short-covering and the mood is getting more and more bearish," Picardo added.
Technology stocks ended 1.2 percent higher, pushing up the main index as Nortel Networks Corp. gained 93 Canadian cents to close at C$24.90. Nortel had hit a 52-week low in the previous session.
Other technology shares, however, gave up gains during the day. Research In Motion was down C$6.65 at C$51.85. It was up to C$61.30 during the day. Celestica Inc. finished off C$3.04 at C$62.35 after reaching as high as C$67.24.
Bank shares led the gainers, up 1.8 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank rose C$1.06 to C$41.16. Bank of Montreal was up 55 Canadian cents at C$38.75.
A strong morning rally because of reassuring earnings guidance from Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia Corp. . and a positive performance by overseas stock markets could not be sustained.
In the United States, the tech rally fizzled as the Nasdaq composite index closed down 31.38 points, 1.59 percent, at 1940.71. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 57.82 points, or 0.58 percent, to close at 10,031.28.
Still-nervous investors reverted to fears about a slowing U.S. economy and dwindling corporate profits as news of more layoffs and profit warnings soured the optimism.
Applied Materials , the largest supplier of equipment used to make computer chips, said it was cutting its workforce by 4.5 percent to lower costs. In other negative tech news, software company Intuit Inc. warned of slower than expected revenue growth in fiscal 2001.
Bucking the positive trend in Toronto were the gold and precious minerals sector, down 2.7 percent, and oil and gas shares, off nearly 2 percent.
Anderson Exploration was off C$2.50 at C$31.50 while Alberta Energy was down C$1.68 at C$67.95.
Among the precious metals issues, Barrick Gold was off 86 Canadian cents at C$24.04.
($1=$1.56 Canadian)
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