Toronto Stock Exchange March 13-19

The TSX Composite Index began the March 13-19 period in a rough patch, as global equity markets sagged with investor worry over slow growth in the U.S. But better than expected results from the American financial sector help buoy confidence as the period closed.

In Toronto, the Composite Index’s rebound was aided by investor anticipation of a tax cut for capital gains in the federal budget — a cut that never came. Still, the hope bolstered the index enough that it only finished the period off 53.41 points to 13,011.74.

Gold finished the period up, if only marginally. The metal climbed US$7.25 to US$655 per oz., taking the Global Gold Index up 1.65 points to 309.22.

The Capped Metals and Mining Index didn’t fare so well. Despite a resurgence in the price of copper — it hit US$3 per lb. — and continued gains in the price of nickel and tin, the index remained relatively flat at 651.31 points.

Dynatec was again the period’s most popular miner, as it saw its shares trade at a volume of nearly 31 million. The Richmond Hill, Ont.-based company is finding continued market interest as it develops from a contractor to a full-scale miner, most notably through its Ambatovy nickel project in Madagascar.

Eastern Platinum also continued to trade at high volumes. The Vancouver-based company announced the TSX had approved the issue of 12 million shares to Rhodium Reef Royalties as part of its purchase of a 1% net smelter royalty on its Spitzkop platinum group metals project. Its shares were up 7 to $2.00 for the period.

A contract to sell its patented high-quality silicon made Timminco the period’s biggest gainer by percentage. The company was up 60% to 65 after announcing that it is selling its silicon to a solar panel manufacturer.

SouthernEra Diamonds was the next largest gainer. The Toronto-based company announced that Mwana Africa — a miner listed on London’s AIM exchange — had offered to acquire all of SouthernEra’s shares in exchange for shares of Mwana Africa. SouthernEra was up 40% to 40.

Ascendant Copper, QGX and Yukon Gold rounded out the top five gainers by percentage.

Leading the losing side was Intrepid Minerals. The company fell 18% to 47 on no news, followed closely by Gitennes Exploration — down 16% to 21 and Diamond Fields International, which was off nearly 15% to 20.

The continued strong prices in base metals helped make Inmet Mining the largest gainer by percentage. The copper, zinc and gold producer rose $1.67 to $59.74. It was followed by fellow copper producer Aur Resources which rose $1.13 to $21.40 on the back of the strong copper price.

TSX most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Dynatec Corp	DY	30952	3.10	2.90	3.02	-0.02
Eastern Platin	ELR	30033	2.05	1.93	2.00	+0.07
Goldcorp	G	18540	29.19	27.31	28.43	-1.27
Equinox Minls	EQN	16723	2.13	1.97	2.10	+0.06
Paladin Res	PDN	16616	8.70	7.57	8.70	+0.25
Kinross Gold	K	16125	15.75	14.73	15.60	+0.04
Barrick Gold	ABX	12787	33.69	32.11	33.52	+0.02
Campbell Res	CCH	12686	0.165	0.13	0.135	-0.005
LionOre Mng In	LIM	10925	17.50	15.64	17.32	+0.84
SouthernEra Di	SDM	10424	0.43	0.255	0.40	+0.115

TSX greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Timminco	TIM	1205	0.72	0.42	0.65	+60.4
SouthernEra Di	SDM	10424	0.43	0.255	0.40	+40.3
Ascendant Copp	ACX	117	0.48	0.43	0.48	+37.1
QGX	QGX	432	3.15	2.80	3.13	+19.9
European Ml wt	EPM_T	106	0.55	0.44	0.48	+18.5
Yukon Gold	YK	46	0.55	0.47	0.50	+17.6
Armistice Res	AZ	150	0.69	0.60	0.67	+15.5
Capital Gold	CGC	271	0.54	0.465	0.54	+14.8
Niocan Inc	NIO	18	0.62	0.53	0.62	+14.8
Coalcorp wt	CCJ_T	534	0.23	0.20	0.21	+13.5
Ascendant C wt	ACX_T	23	0.09	0.08	0.09	-18.1
Intrepid Mnrl	IAU	1260	0.53	0.47	0.475	-18.1
Gitennes Expl	GIT	155	0.23	0.20	0.21	-16.0
Diamond Fields	DFI	2353	0.245	0.19	0.20	-14.8
YGC Res	YGC	642	1.89	1.53	1.64	-14.1
Revett Mnls	RVM	108	1.12	1.03	1.05	-11.7
Queenstake Rs	QRL	4086	0.19	0.15	0.15	-11.7
Wallbridge Mng	WM	463	0.47	0.40	0.40	-11.1
South Am Gld&C	SAG	2200	0.045	0.04	0.04	-11.1
Pac Rim Mining	PMU	659	1.33	1.16	1.17	-10.6

TSX greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Pan Am Silv wt	PAA_T	52171	22.00	+1.67
Inmet Mining	IMN	1136622	59.74	+1.55
Aur Res	AUR	5178239	21.40	+1.13
Altius Mnrls	ALS	464998	11.45	+1.10
Newmont Mng	NMC	174480	50.74	+0.99
Labdr I-Ore Ro	LIF_U	490910	26.60	+0.90
LionOre Mng In	LIM	10925404	17.32	+0.84
FNX Mining	FNX	2923661	23.50	+0.79
Aber Diamond	ABZ	640020	41.93	+0.64
Skye Res	SKR	939015	12.70	+0.63
Potash Cp Sask	POT	1527497	182.19	-8.67
Teck Comin B	TCKB	6606549	77.20	-2.10
Alcan	AL	6397848	61.71	-1.86
Goldcorp	G	18539623	28.43	-1.27
Meridian Gold	MNG	1874123	28.85	-1.12
HudBay Minls	HBM	8156701	20.01	-0.91
Gammon Lk Res	GAM	1976956	19.07	-0.90
First Quantum	FM	2502835	66.08	-0.83
Minefinders	MFL	780441	12.30	-0.64
Laramide Res	LAM	927257	11.52	-0.63