The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that chip stocks pulled Nasdaq and the S&P 500 lower on Thursday as they continued to lead broader market moves despite generally upbeat U.S. economic data and a strong start to second-quarter earnings season. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says Canada's main stock index also fell, pulling back from a record closing high the previous session. Among the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, technology fell 1.8 per cent, with a 4.3-per-cent drop in semiconductor stocks weighing heavily on the sector and the market. Daily swings in chips have increasingly dictated the overall movement of the major U.S. stock indexes, particularly the tech-heavy Nasdaq. The weakness in chips, even after chip demand bellwether TSMC posted a 77-per-cent jump in quarterly profit, demonstrated the lofty expectations for a sector that has soared by nearly 70 per cent so far this year. The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 76.05 points at 35,340.15. The Toronto Stock Exchange's materials sector dropped 3.4 per cent to the lowest level since November. The price of gold hit a two-week low. BlackBerry was the biggest decliner in Toronto. Shares of the software company tumbled 14.2 per cent.