Trading Summary (October 22, 2002)

Toronto gold stocks regained their glitter and then some on Tuesday, rising 7.93 points or nearly 5% to 167.11 points. The gold index was spurred on by a US$2.10 gain by gold, which finished at US$312.70 per oz. in New York. Platinum found a dime less to make US$583 per oz. The base metal miners ended up on the other side of the fence with a 1.59-point loss to 122.45. In the end the S&P/TSX Composite Index was off 70.65 points at 6,291.66.

No big surprise Canada’s big three gold producers finished among the TSX’s most traded issues. Kinross Gold led the pack with an 10 gain to $2.58 on about 4.8 million shares.

Coal miner Fording Coal slid in behind Kinross, climbing another 35 to $32. The company’s shares have benefited from a hostile $29-per-share bid by partners Sherritt International and the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan. On Tuesday, Fording announced plans to become a income trust in an attempt to thwart the bid. The company also rolled out its third-quarter earnings ahead of schedule. The company posted lower third-quarter earnings (something it recently twice warned it would do) of $9 million (or 18 per basic share) on revenue of $212.2 million.

For their part, Sherritt shares regained 4 to $4.15, after dipping on Monday after news of its offer.

Canada’s remaining gold major’s rounded out the mining stocks on the top ten list. Placer Dome made 79 to reach $13.68, while Barrick Gold grabbed $1 to reach $23.45.

Mid-tier gold producer Meridian Gold found $1.27 and hit $26.40. Late on Tuesday, Meridian announced lower net income of US$9.2 million (or a dime a share) on higher revenue of US$33.6 million. The company’s quarterly production came to 103,918 oz. of gold at a cash cost of US$101 per oz.

Aside from Fording and Sherritt, most of the base metal miners put in losses. Among those were: Inco, off 85 to $29.85; Falconbridge, down 17 to $14.75; Noranda, minus 26 to $15; Alcan, $1.10 lower at $44.76; and Teck Cominco‘s B series, which dropped 51 to $11.39.

On Tuesday, Inco said its current nickel inventories of 21,000 tonnes represented just 4.5 weeks of sales, a 7-year low. Inco’s third-quarter net earnings came to US$91 million (46 per share).