The report period ended May 1 was a quiet one for the Toronto Stock Exchange, with the TSE 300 composite index up fractionally at 7,946.33 points for a gain of 54.66 points, or 0.7% of value.
What was noteworthy was a strong showing by the gold and precious minerals group, which was nearing its 52-week high on a gain of 195.57 points. The group index closed at 4,738.26, only 43 points short of its year-old high of 4,781.36 (coincidentally also set in the first week of May). The golds moved despite sluggishness in the precious metal market, where the yellow metal rose only US$1.05 over the report period, to finish at US$265 per oz. in the London bullion dealers’ morning session. The platinum group metals managed to put a brake on their downward slide, with platinum off only US$3 over the five trading days at US$603 per oz., and palladium down US$40 at US$670 per oz. — better, at least, than its US$55 tumble the week before.
Palladium producer
Base metal prices were a little firmer, with nickel up US15 at US$3.03 and copper up US1 at US77 per lb. The market appears to be digesting recent straws in the wind, including a U.S. National Association of Production Managers survey that showed — wait for it — less pessimism than last month and some encouragement from a meeting of G7 finance ministers, with the consensus being that growth may resume as early as the last quarter of 2001. The TSE metals and minerals group saw a 54.30-point increase in its index, which closed at 4,703.93 and touched a 52-week high of 4,757.38 in intra-day trading on April 27. The biggest news of the week in the base metals sector was hardly a shock:
The market immediately saw the merger as a sweet deal for Cominco shareholders, and bid up the price to $34.45, a gain of $3.65 over the report period. Teck’s B series shares, in contrast, were off $1.36 at $16.24. Both were near the top of the most-active list, with 21 million Teck B and 15 million Cominco shares traded.
All three major nickel producers scored big, as
Be the first to comment on "Golds picking up in quiet market"