STOCK MARKET — Toronto markets take a welcome breather — Base metals hold their own but

golds tank — again

The Toronto Stock Exchange was fractionally lower over the trading period Nov. 12-18, with the TSE 300 composite index sliding 34.29 points, or 0.5% of value, to 6,752.23.

The narrow trading range may have come as a relief to traders, replacing the volatility of the past few weeks of Hong Kong flu. Daily volumes were moderate to heavy, averaging near 120 million shares, but most sectors traded in a narrow range. The real-estate

and industrial products sectors were the best performers on the market, while the base metals and golds made new lows for the year. The base metals, at least, rallied back and managed to avoid falling as far as the broad market.

The Canadian dollar was trading at US70.67cents at noon on Nov. 19, down 31 basis points from the previous week. The Bank of Canada, seeing the currency generally stable against the European currencies and strong against the Japanese yen, has moved cautiously to halt the slide against the U.S.

dollar. Governor Gordon Thiessen told the press, following the release of the Bank’s latest Monetary Policy Report, that “we don’t respond to declines in the dollar unless they look to us like they’re going to persist for a while,” and he suggested that only continued weakness against the greenback would cause the bank to tighten interest rates.

Gold prices continue to test 1985 levels, with the morning London fix on Nov. 19 a meagre US$306.40 per oz. for a decline of $3.70 over the five trading days. In the same period, platinum was $2 higher at US$396 per oz., palladium was half a dollar lower at US$212, and silver added 17cents to finish the report period at US$5.12.

The TSE gold and precious minerals sub-group had yet another disastrous week, shedding 8% of value to close at 6,372.13 points and setting a 1997 low of 6,337.89 on the way. Barrick Gold lost $1.15 to close at $25.80 and Placer Dome lost $1.05 to close at $18.35.

Among the mid-tier gold producers, Cambior fell 75cents to $10.50, Kinross Gold was off 30cents at $4.70, and TVX Gold fell 80cents to $4.60.

Franco-Nevada Mining was down $3 at $28 and sister Euro-Nevada Mining slipped $1.90 to $18.60. Diversified Teck B, also part of the gold index, was lower as well, sliding 40cents to $22.75.

Greenstone Resources was $2.85 lower at $7.60, despite a ruling by a Nicaraguan court that confirmed its full ownership of the Libertad mining concession in north-central Nicaragua.

Apart from aluminum, which stayed put at US73cents per lb., the base metals were all lower. Copper fell 3cents to US85cents, nickel was off 5cents at US$2.75, and lead and zinc were both lower as well.

The TSE’s metals and minerals sub-group lost a mere 7.94 points over the report period, closing at 4,005.51 after reaching a low of 3,898.73 on Nov.

14. Noranda bucked the trend with a gain of $1.25 on news that it would spin off its Noranda Forest subsidiary and sell its 46% interest in oil and gas producer Norcen Energy. The Leviathan of Adelaide Street closed at $25.15, and its stablemate, Falconbridge, was 50cents higher at $19.25, probably benefitting from the news that Noranda plans to buy more Falco shares.

Inco was off 15cents at $26.10, following an announcement that it would be shutting down two Sudbury mines, not reopening a third, and closing up its Shebandowan mine on schedule.