The Toronto Stock Exchange treated investors to another wild ride over the report period March 7-13, as another blue Monday hit the telecom stocks. The TSE 300 composite index sank 205 points on March 12 and, over the five trading days, fell 246.10 points to close at 7,959.46 for a loss of 3% of value.
Gold prices were up, briefly, and lease rates spiked sharply, on March 12, as the London bullion fix reached US$272.50 per oz., its highest this year. The yellow metal settled back to US$267.45 on March 13, but that was still enough for a gain of US$5.90 on the five trading days. Actual gold trading was relatively thin, partly in anticipation of the Bank of England auction on March 14; that shook out at US$266 per oz., with bids for slightly more than twice the gold on offer. The weak auction result brought the price back to US$263.85 in the London afternoon fix, and, at presstime, trading in the U.S. and Asia had pulled it further still, to the US$262-per-oz. range.
The gold issues climbed 142.17 points to close at 4,557.66, an increase of 3.2% over the report period. Heavy trading volumes suggested some large investors were moving back into the golds as other sectors fell back.
The mid-tier golds were generally higher.
Prices for the white goods recovered slightly, with palladium up US$25 at US$795 per oz. and platinum US$6 higher at US$592 per oz. The market was still reacting to the previous week’s slides, though, with
Despite adverse year-end numbers,
Base metal prices were weaker on the London Metal Exchange, with nickel down US7 to US$2.73 per lb. and copper off 3 at US$79 per lb. The Toronto base metals index fell 29.22 points over the report period to close at 4,257.43, though it still made a 52-week high of 4,394.18 on March 8.
Be the first to comment on "Golds make gains as TSE dives"