Trading Summary (August 29, 2001)

More south-of-the-border gloom sent the Toronto Stock Exchange down for a second straight day on Wednesday. By day’s end, the TSE 300 composite index had lost 83.95 points, or 1.1%, to 7,494.4. The only bright spot was the consumer products subindex, which climbed 208.37 points, or 1.2%. Fuelling the broad losses was news that the U.S. gross domestic product grew at its slowest rate in more than eight years during the recent second quarter.

The news took a chunk out of all of the major North American markets. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.3% to 10,090.9 points, the Nasdaq index shed 1.2% to 1,843.17 points and the S&P 500 index lost 1.1% to 1,148.56 points.

Gold showed a bit of life in New York, adding US$1.70 to reach US$273.60. Palladium crept up US$1 to US$463 per oz. Silver and platinum were unchanged.

The TSE Gold & Precious Minerals subindex was one of just four subindeces to manage a gain, rising 27.44 points to 4,820.69. The majors traded sideways. Barrick Gold gained a dime to $24.95, Placer Dome fell 14 to $17, Franco-Nevada Mining rose 27 to $19.87, Kinross Gold added 2 to hit $1.37 and TVX Gold slipped a penny to 79.

Effective at the close of trading on Tuesday, TVX has been added to the TSE 300 composite index and the TSE 300 Gold & Precious Minerals group, the S&P/TSE Canadian SmallCap index in the Materials Sector and the TSE 200 index.

Most of the base metal majors suffered modest losses on the day and the Metals & Minerals subindex shed 74.5 points, or 1.8%, to 4,071.48. Alcan dropped 83 to $56.60, Inco shed 63 to $25.51, Noranda lost 11 to hit $15.86 and Falconbridge was 28 lower at $16.40.

Sticking out like a throbbing thumb was Swedish-Canadian miner Boliden, which plummeted 11, or about 26%, to 32. The company announced the completion of a US$243-million equity offering, part of a previously announced bailout deal from shareholders, Swedish investors and the company’s lenders.

Canada’s junior exchange took it on the chin for the third straight day as only the Mining index posted gains. The Canadian Venture Exchange fell 18.58 points, or 0.6%, to finish the day at 3,029.48. The Mining Index bucked the trend, gaining 16.89 points, or 0.2%, to close at 7,424.42.

Poplar Resources took top spot as the most actively traded issue, down 2 on the day to 28 on 893,800 shares. The company recently raised $1 million to continue exploring the Bottenbacken platinum-palladium project and the Sundsvall diamond project. Both projects are in central Sweden.

Shares in Gold Canyon Resources hit yet another new 52-week high, up 20 to $1.45 on 105,046 shares. The junior has stepped away from the Springpole gold property in Ontario and is now looking at gallium on the Cordero property in Humboldt County, Nev.

Sultan Minerals tacked on 2 to end the day at 22 on a modest 55,000 shares. The company announced that drilling would resume by mid-September on the Gold Mountain zone on the Kena property near Nelson, B.C.

Shares in Radius Explorations continued to lose ground, giving up 2 on the day to close at 65 on a modest volume of 42,100. The Simon Ridgway-led junior hit a 52-week high of $1.25 less than two months ago. The company is drilling the Tambor gold property in Guatemala. The first seven holes into the Lupita target returned broad intervals of low-grade mineralization (0.7-2.2 grams gold).