Toronto Stock Exchange – May 12-15

The TSX was down during the Victoria Dayshortened May 12-15 reporting period, with the S&P/TSX composite index off 331 points, or 3.3%, to 9,763. The mining sector fell harder, with the Capped Metals and Mining index losing 58 points, or 10.2%, to 513. The Capped Materials index was a rare bright spot, adding 8 points, or 3.1%, to 277, on strength in gold issues, as the gold price continued to rally on inflation fears.

The subdued tenor in the markets was caused by a slew of negative economic numbers. Gross domestic product in the euro zone — made up of the 16 European Union countries that use the euro — fell a whopping 9.6% on an annualized basis in the first quarter. U. S. retail sales fell 0.4% in April, and U. S. industrial production was 0.5% off in the same month. In Canada, manufacturing sales were down 2.7% in March, and new orders 0.4% lower.

“This does not mean recovery is not happening, but the data certainly shows why it will take time,” wrote TD Bank economist Richard Kelly in emailed comments. And said CIBC economist Avery Shenfeld: “The banking crisis is over. It is a major sigh of relief for the economy writ large.”

With the negative economic numbers, base metal prices came under pressure across the board. Copper fell on signs that the Chinese market is well supplied, as well as slower-than-expected growth in Chinese industrial production in April.

The bearish economic indicators together with the decline in metal prices weighed on base metal mining issues, with class B shares of diversified giant Teck off $1.69 to $14.28. Copper miners Inmet Mining, First Quantum Minerals and Equinox Minerals likewise lost ground.

Companies with base metal projects declined along with metal producers, with Ivanhoe Mines, which is advancing the Oyu Tolgoi copper project in Mongolia, losing $1.15 to $7.05.

PolyMet Mining, which controls the NorthMet polymetallic project in Minnesota, sank 86¢ to $1.31. In early May, the company reported that government agencies responsible for preparing an environmental impact statement were nearing completion of a draft version.

The uranium price continued to rally, adding US$5 to US$51 per lb. uranium oxide, but Cameco lost 81¢ to $28.83. Most of the sector followed Cameco downwards, with Denison Mines, Uranium One and FirstUranium all posting losses.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan added $15.07 to $125.80 after a Scotia Capital analyst upgraded the shares to “sector outperform” but lowered its price target to $150 from $155. Competitor Agrium also advanced on the upgrade.

Timminco, which makes silicon for solar panels, dropped 61¢ to $1.30 after a lawsuit was launched against the company.

TSX most active issues
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Redcorp Vent	RDV	61461	0.03	0.01	0.02	+ 0.01
Teck B	TCKB	51645	16.45	12.91	14.28	-1.69
Breakwater Res	BWR	48011	0.33	0.23	0.26	-0.05
Yamana Gold	YRI	29433	10.98	10.02	10.33	+ 0.42
Mercator Mnls	ML	26481	2.00	1.48	1.53	-0.34
Shore Gold	SGF	26104	0.92	0.54	0.60	+ 0.08
Lundin Mng	LUN	25701	2.72	2.28	2.34	-0.23
African Copper	ACU	25252	0.29	0.09	0.12	-0.08
Great Basin Go	GBG	24855	1.77	1.47	1.74	+ 0.28
Uranium One	UUU	23728	4.07	3.51	3.56	-0.30

TSX greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Opta Minls	OPM	16	1.60	1.13	1.40	+636.8
Redcorp Vent	RDV	61461	0.03	0.01	0.02	+100.0
Sierra Minls	SIM	256	0.25	0.14	0.25	+ 78.5
Acadian Mng	ADA	7397	0.13	0.05	0.07	+ 75.0
North Atlc Res	NAC	35	0.11	0.09	0.11	+ 57.1
Nuinsco Res	NWI	8279	0.09	0.05	0.06	+ 50.0
Katanga Mng	KAT	18056	1.55	0.58	0.85	+ 49.1
Linear Metals	LRM	346	0.09	0.05	0.07	+ 40.0
Australn Solom	SGA	155	0.29	0.25	0.29	+ 38.1
Franc-Or Res	FOR	237	0.08	0.05	0.08	+ 33.3
Brazilian Diam	BDY	5802	0.02	0.01	0.01	-50.0
First Metals	FMA	611	0.03	0.01	0.01	-50.0
African Copper	ACU	25252	0.29	0.09	0.12	-40.0
PolyMet Mng	POM	1099	2.36	1.27	1.31	-39.6
Diamond Fields	DFI	140	0.05	0.04	0.04	-33.3
Timminco	TIM	7933	1.93	1.13	1.30	-31.9
Atlanta Gold	ATG	124	0.35	0.17	0.17	-32.0
Duluth Metals	DM	500	0.70	0.46	0.47	-27.6
Nevoro	NVR	159	0.11	0.08	0.08	-27.2
Velocity Minls	VLC	15	0.22	0.17	0.17	-26.0

TSX greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Potash Cp Sask	POT	6627970	125.80	+ 15.07
Agnico-Eagle	AEM	5145521	61.32	+ 5.25
Agrium	AGU	5547082	56.82	+ 5.02
IShCOMEXGTr	IGT	39730	107.91	+ 3.36
Goldcorp	G	13089728	39.01	+ 1.53
Seabridge Gold	SEA	198065	29.17	+ 1.22
Opta Minls	OPM	15543	1.40	+ 1.21
Royal Gold	RGL	22204	46.77	+ 1.12
Franco-Nevada	FNV	2077126	27.25	+ 0.98
Jaguar Mng	JAG	2724807	7.96	+ 0.71
Inmet Mining	IMN	2272333	41.70	-6.52
First Quantum	FM	2799955	45.51	-6.39
Labdr I-Ore Ro	LIF_U	381548	27.44	-1.96
Major Drilling	MDI	421721	15.46	-1.74
Teck B	TCKB	51644679	14.28	-1.69
Ivanhoe Mines	IVN	5260471	7.05	-1.15
HudBay Minls	HBM	6555865	7.10	-0.99
Quadra Mng	QUA	5913482	7.17	-0.91
PolyMet Mng	POM	1098831	1.31	-0.86
Gammon Gold	GAM	3097570	7.67	-0.81