Toronto Stock Exchange – March 3-9

The TSX was down during the March 3-9 reporting period, with the S&P/TSX composite index losing 121 points, or 1.6%, to 7,567. Last May, the index hit 15,000.

With a cooling economy, The Bank of Canada cut its overnight lending rate by half a percentage point to 0.5%, and stated that it would consider credit and quantitative easing to stimulate the economy. In emailed comments, National Bank economist Paul-Andr Pinsonnault said: “Like the Bank of Canada, we still believe that aggressive monetary and fiscal policy actions domestically and around the world will bear fruit in the second half of this year and through 2010.”

Copper prices added 6.7% on the week, while zinc prices climbed 5.3%, as inventories of both metals in London Metal Exchange warehouses fell. TD Bank economist Dina Cover cites speculation that demand for the metals in China will rise as the country rebuilds its reserves. The gains in base metal prices explains the rise in the S&P/TSX Capped Metals and Mining index, which added 7 points, or 2.6%, to 265. The Capped Materials index also registered a gain, adding 2 points, or 0.7%, to 232.

But coal had another down week, with prices falling 5.5% on weak demand. Precious metals prices likewise lost altitude, with gold down 4.7% and silver down 5.4%.

Paramount Gold and Silver jumped 40¢ to $1.14 after announcing a $9-million private placement. The company is exploring the San Miguel gold-silver project in the Guazapares mining district in Mexico.

Queenston Mining closed an $18-million private placement during the period, adding 4¢ to its share price to finish the week at $3.30. In February, the company released high-grade results from drilling at its AK gold project in Kirkland Lake, Ont.

First Majestic Silver also closed a financing during the week, a $21-million private placement for the expansion of its La Encantada silver mine in the state of Coahuila, Mexico. Its shares fell 14¢ to $1.74.

Colossus Minerals closed a $25-million private placement to explore its Serra Pelada platinum group metal project in Para state, Brazil. Its shares dropped 14¢ to $1.76.

Silvercorp Metals, in the midst of a $31-million equity offering, rose 11¢ to $2.79.

Uranium miner Cameco completed a $460-million round of equity financing. Shares in the major were up 83¢ at $18.45.

Uranium One, with mines in South Africa and Kazakhstan, declined 5¢ to $1.76. In February, the company announced a $270-million investment by a Japanese consortium.

Coalcorp Mining was unchanged at 15¢. The company, with assets in Colombia, has delayed filing its financial statements, fired three executives, and launched an internal investigation. The company said it was looking into past transactions that were conducted “with no apparent commercial rationale and contrary to the best interests of the company.”

TSX most active issues
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Redcorp Vent	RDV	64299	0.01	n/a	0.01	0.00
Teck B	TCKB	50408	4.19	3.35		3.72	-0.23
Yamana Gold	YRI	37151	11.71	9.51		10.79	+ 0.61
Barrick Gold	ABX	32535	38.66	34.65		36.24	-0.06
Uranium One	UUU	28775	1.95	1.66		1.76	-0.05
Kinross Gold	K	25734	22.22	18.93		20.33	+ 0.73
Lundin Mng	LUN	24433	1.15	0.73	1.14	+ 0.34
HoriznsGBull	HGU	24421	13.10	10.29		11.59	+ 0.64
Equinox Minls	EQN	22473	1.64	1.33		1.51	+ 0.17
Blue Note Mng	BN	20599	0.01	0.01		0.01	0.00

TSX greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Gitennes Expl	GIT	30	0.07	0.05	0.06	+100.0
Paramount Gold	PZG	1040	1.20	0.68	1.14	+ 54.0
Aquila Res	AQA	231	0.20	0.12	0.20	+ 53.8
Cons Thomp Irn	CLM	14142	2.48	1.53	2.20	+ 43.7
Lundin Mng	LUN	24433	1.15	0.73	1.14	+ 42.5
Rockwell Diam	RDI	4181	0.04	0.03	0.04	+ 33.3
Atlanta Gold	ATG	22	0.28	0.20	0.20	+ 33.3
Nevoro	NVR	302	0.12	0.06	0.09	+ 28.5
Fletcher Nicke	FL	143	0.05	0.04	0.05	+ 25.0
American Bonan	BZA	1809	0.11	0.06	0.10	+ 25.0
Crescent Gold	CRA	38	0.10	0.05	0.05	-70.5
Silver Eagle	SEG	1012	0.11	0.06	0.06	-45.4
Opta Minls	OPM	35	1.72	1.14	1.14	-43.0
Carlisle Goldf	CGJ	285	0.05	0.03	0.03	-40.0
Richview Res	RVR	90	0.03	0.02	0.02	-33.3
Africo Res	ARL	13	0.63	0.55	0.56	-33.3
Sulliden Expl	SUE	306	0.74	0.52	0.53	-25.3
Arehada Mining	AHD	10	0.03	0.03	0.03	-25.0
Harry Winston	HW	1092	3.07	2.19	2.20	-21.9
Gryphon Gold	GGN	153	0.19	0.15	0.15	-21.0

TSX greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Agrium	AGU	8242641	42.25	+ 3.77
Agnico-Eagle	AEM	5114650	62.65	+ 2.92
First Quantum	FM	4320625	33.20	+ 2.20
Goldcorp	G	19975813	36.56	+ 1.72
Inmet Mining	IMN	1372912	27.14	+ 1.44
Seabridge Gold	SEA	146342	22.56	+ 1.41
Royal Gold	RGL	14710	50.12	+ 0.96
Cameco Corp	CCO	12393507	18.45	+ 0.83
Labdr I-Ore Ro	LIF_U	492454	25.48	+ 0.80
Pan Am Silver	PAA	967372	17.73	+ 0.78
Potash Cp Sask	POT	11098876	90.03	-6.77
Major Drilling	MDI	473388	10.00	-2.00
Silver Std Res	SSO	867414	16.45	-1.69
Opta Minls	OPM	35380	1.14	-0.86
Horizns G Bear	HGD	10288962	9.10	-0.76
Migao	MGO	1249287	5.07	-0.64
Harry Winston	HW	1092290	2.20	-0.62
IAMGold Corp	IMG	17156089	9.43	-0.56
SentrySlPrmM	PME	65225	3.26	-0.44
Timminco	TIM	1120673	2.67	-0.39