TSE 300 index goes down as it goes out

The Toronto Stock Exchange 300 index went out with a fizzle rather than a bang, slipping 54.45 points over the April 24-30 report period to finish the week at 7,663.39, or 0.7% lighter.

On May 1, the Toronto Stock Exchange 300 index was renamed the S&P/TSX composite index as part of an overhaul aimed at taking the exchange public by year-end. Other measures include the creation of 13 new sub-groups to replace the 14 that existed beforehand.

Gold bugs buzzed with glee over the period as the gold and precious metals sub-group climbed 156.67 points to 6,503.02. Spurring the rally was a $3.80-rise in spot gold, to a London morning fix of US$308.30 on May 1.

Barrick Gold jumped $1.61 to $31.65 as it announced net earnings of US$46 million in the first three months of the year. The quarter also was highlighted by the outlining of a multi-million-ounce inferred resource at the Alto Chicama property in north-central Peru. The project sits 175 km from the producing Pierina mine.

Canada’s two other major producers were mixed, with Placer Dome slipping 45 to $18.65 and Kinross Gold edging ahead 24 to $2.64 on a volume of 26.2 million shares, making it the second most active issue. Unlike Barrick, Kinross reported a quarterly loss of $7.9 million, and cash flow from operations was down $12.8 million, at $19.9 million, compared with the year-ago period.

TVX Gold was the most active resource issue, rising 21 to $1.30 as nearly 36 million shares changed hands. In early April, the miner raised $75 million by issuing 71.5 million shares, consequently overshadowing its troubles in Greece. In mid-March, an anti-mining group targeted the Stratoni base metals mine for closure, having killed the Olympias gold project two weeks earlier.

The TSE’s metals and minerals group flopped 119.88 points over the period, landing at 4,502.47. Nickel was off 4, at US$3.15 per lb., on the morning of May 1, whereas zinc was down a penny, at US37 per lb. Copper and lead stayed the course.

Inco was the most active of the base metals, sinking $1.27 to $31.50 on a volume of 5.6 million shares. Next came Noranda, which slipped 3 to $19.52, followed by aluminum heavyweight, Alcan, which plunged $1.71 to $57.90.

Falconbridge, which reported a fivefold increase in year-over-year quarterly earnings, was off a quarter, at $19.65. The major teased the market by suggesting it would like to work more closely with Inco, thus ending years of rivalry.

First Quantum Minerals rose 37 to $3.75 as it reported a quarterly loss and a reduction of its interest in two Zambian copper mines. The miner, which lost $4.48 million during the first quarter, now owns 18.8% of the Nkana and Mufulira operations. The company’s interest in the Bwana Mkubwa copper operation remains unchanged, at 100%.