STOCK MARKETS — Metals miss out on TSE’s rise

The Toronto Stock Exchange was up a modest 31.66 points over the report period ended May 21, closing at a record 5,238.25. The manufacturing, oil and gas, and financial services sectors drove the advance, but gold and base metals issues fell with metal prices.

The Canadian dollar was in the middle of the pack last week, losing ground against the U.S. dollar, the pound and the yen. It made gains, however, on most of the European currencies. The Loony was off 0.13 cents against the U.S. dollar, settling to US72.87 cents on May 21.

Precious metals lost heavily on the London bullion markets, with gold down 85 cents from the previous week. The yellow metal closed at US$391 per oz. on the morning of May 22. Platinum was down $5, to US$397.25 per oz., in the same period, and silver lost 11 cents on the week to reach US$5.29 per oz.

Gold issues on the TSE were fractionally lower, with the gold and precious metals sub-index falling six points to 12,830.47. Kinross Gold was the most heavily traded of the gold producers, losing 15 cents to close at $11.95.

Placer Dome was unchanged at $39.55, Barrick Gold was down 5 cents at $42.95 and TVX Gold fell 30 cents to $12.30.

Gainers in the gold sector included Cambior, which was up 55 cents to $20.60, and royalty twins Franco-Nevada, up $3.20 to $88.70, and Euro-Nevada, up $3.50 to $58.50.

The base metals took a pounding in the London rings last week, with both copper and nickel losing 13 cents to close at $1.11 and $3.51, respectively.

Lead and zinc wobbled with only fractional losses. The pall over the base metal markets darkened the TSE as well, with the metals and minerals sub-index closing at 5,438.67 for a loss of 110.25 points, or 2% of value, over the report period.

Nickel-sensitive issues all lost. Diamond Fields Resources was $2.15 lower at $39.70, Inco was off $1.25 to $45.15, and Falconbridge was down $1.35 to $31.

Inco shareholders also approved the Diamond Fields takeover offer during the report period.

The copper miners fared better, with Rio Algom down 20 cents to $27.50, Noranda off 15 cents to $30.45, and Inmet 10 cents lower at $10.60.

Everybody wants a piece of Bre-X Minerals, which picked up $18.60 to close at $234 on May 21. A 10-for-1 stock split came into effect May 22, and trades at presstime were at $22.85. Montreal-listed Bresea Resources, which owns 23% of Bre-X, was up 80 cents to close at $16.40 on May 21.

Nuinsco Resources, which has found success on its Rainy River project in northwestern Ontario, added 30 cents to close at $3.05, with 6.7 million shares traded.

Other heavily traded TSE juniors included Black Swan Gold, which rose 40 cents to $1.52 on a volume of 34 million shares. The company released assays confirming earlier results at the Cata Preta project in Brazil. Aurex Resources announced a corporate restructuring and was up 14 cents to 36 cents, with 6.2 million shares crossing the floor.

Queenston Mining rose 85 cents to $2.41. The company announced an offering of shares and warrants to finance its portion of a joint venture with Franco-Nevada Mining in the Kirkland Lake area of northeastern Ontario.

Another company with northeastern Ontario interests, QSR, was up 83 cents to $2; the company has a property in the Matheson area with Pentland Firth Ventures, which was down 9 cents to $1.88.

Montreal-listed Hebron Fjord Resources rode the Labradorian tiger, picking up 65 cents to close at $1.90. The company avoided the beating many other junior Labrador explorers took over the weekend. CDN-listed Black Pearl Minerals, which shares a number of joint-venture properties with Hebron, was also steady in the 70-80 cents range on the dealer network. Canadian States Resources, which had traded as high as $7.75 on May 17, was down to $2 on CDN on May 21.