The market made marginal gains over the holiday-shortened Aug. 1-4 period, with the S&P-TSX Composite Index up 105.72 points to 11,936.68 as a slight rise in unemployment made further increases in interest rates look unlikely in the short term. The latest unemployment figures were thought to be affected by the high loonie, which has cut into hiring in the manufacturing sector as exports become more expensive.
With the price of gold rising 2.7% to US$649.75, the gold mining index received a 2.9% increase, up 9.08 points to 312.81 over the session.
The diversified mining index also rose, climbing 3.1% to 572.93. While the copper price fell marginally on mid-period news that a labour conflict at the massive Escondida mine in Chile could soon be resolved, nickel and lead made gains while zinc prices were relatively flat.
EuroZinc Mining returned to the top of the most-active list; the Vancouver-based company, with assets in Portugal, traded over 47 million shares on the week, buoyed by a news release reporting increased drilling at its Neves-Corvo site. Shares in EuroZinc were trading at $3.19 apiece at presstime.
Falconbridge shares were the second most popular during the week, as it is widely believed that Swiss-based Xstrata’s takeover will be successful. Xstrata already owns 24.5% of Falconbridge; its all-cash offer of $62.50 per share for the rest of the company closes on Aug. 14.
Shares in Vancouver-based Pine Valley Mining made the biggest gain by percentage for the period, rising 26.5% to a peak of $1.10. While the company did not release any news, it is expected to release financial results shortly.
Alberta-based Grande Cache Coal was also a high percentage gainer, continuing to climb on strong financials released on July 31. The company upped its first-quarter earnings to 3 a share from a loss of 30 a share for the same period a year earlier.
Teck Cominco was again the market’s largest gainer by value. The major was up $6.25 to $81.15 as investors continued to warm to the idea that the company was in a good position to acquire Inco. While Inco reported that it was looking to enter into talks with Teck, at presstime Teck said it had tabled a full and fair offer and had no reason to negotiate with Inco.
On the losing side of the coin, the market didn’t like Tahera Diamond’s second- quarter report. The Toronto-based junior’s shares fell 12.8% over the period to $2.18 after recording a net loss of $879,000 for the quarter. The company saw a loss of $866,000 in the corresponding period last year. Operating expenses were also up, increasing to just over $1.2 million compared with roughly $1 million for the same period last year.
TSX greatest percentage change
| VOLUME(000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Pine Valley Mg | PVM | 187 | 1.10 | 0.90 | 1.05 | +26.5 |
| Grande Cache C | GCE | 5737 | 1.61 | 1.26 | 1.46 | +21.6 |
| Minco Mng & Me | MMM | 911 | 1.77 | 1.35 | 1.60 | +21.2 |
| Cambior wtC | CBJ.WT.C | 357 | 1.40 | 1.06 | 1.25 | +20.1 |
| Queenston Mng | QMI | 173 | 1.60 | 1.35 | 1.57 | +19.8 |
| Pan Am Silv wt | PAA.WT | 40 | 12.50 | 10.58 | 12.33 | +19.1 |
| Gabriel Res wt | GBU.WT | 71 | 1.19 | 0.96 | 1.19 | +19.0 |
| Sulliden Expl | SUE | 960 | 1.03 | 0.74 | 0.95 | +17.2 |
| Glencairn G wt | GGG.WT | 148 | 0.335 | 0.29 | 0.335 | +15.5 |
| Silver Eagle | SEG | 175 | 1.27 | 1.13 | 1.27 | +15.4 |
| HMZ Metals wt | HMZ.WT | 80 | 0.015 | 0.01 | 0.01 | -33.3 |
| Tahera Diam | TAH | 1886 | 2.50 | 2.15 | 2.18 | -12.8 |
| Cline Mng | CMK | 260 | 0.70 | 0.55 | 0.55 | -12.7 |
| Goldstake Exp | GXP | 100 | 0.15 | 0.14 | 0.14 | -12.5 |
| Cusac Gold | CQC | 221 | 0.295 | 0.255 | 0.255 | -12.0 |
| Petaquilla Mnl | PTQ | 691 | 2.85 | 2.40 | 2.53 | -11.2 |
| Yukon Gold | YK | 12 | 1.25 | 1.12 | 1.21 | -10.3 |
| QGX | QGX | 690 | 1.89 | 1.66 | 1.66 | -10.2 |
| Tiomin Res | TIO | 830 | 0.31 | 0.265 | 0.28 | -9.6 |
| First Nickel | FNI | 1086 | 0.54 | 0.45 | 0.48 | -9.4 |
TSX greatest value change
| VOLUME | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Teck Comin B | TCK.B | 10314404 | 81.15 | +6.25 |
| Inmet Mining | IMN | 1411199 | 47.55 | +4.55 |
| Teck Comin A | TCK.A | 13550 | 86.35 | +2.86 |
| Inco wt | N.WT | 36939 | 59.50 | +2.02 |
| Pan Am Silv wt | PAA.WT | 39662 | 12.33 | +1.98 |
| Inco Ltd | N | 12810881 | 89.36 | +1.91 |
| Pan Am Silver | PAA | 773118 | 22.96 | +1.57 |
| Alcan | AL | 8400259 | 53.05 | +1.44 |
| Agnico-Eagle | AEM | 2164751 | 41.61 | +1.19 |
| Barrick Gold | ABX | 11626042 | 35.93 | +1.19 |
| Potash Cp Sask | POT | 945893 | 104.91 | -1.59 |
| Cameco Corp | CCO | 8430528 | 43.57 | -1.52 |
| Lundin Mng | LUN | 49324 | 31.51 | -1.49 |
| Aber Diamond | ABZ | 358817 | 36.80 | -1.09 |
| Aur Res | AUR | 2578645 | 19.04 | -0.61 |
| Dundee Bancrp | DBC.A | 33602 | 37.79 | -0.46 |
| Silvercorp Mtl | SVM | 203844 | 14.52 | -0.46 |
| Moto Gold Mine | MGL | 747755 | 5.94 | -0.41 |
| Guyana Gldflds | GUY | 689415 | 7.84 | -0.40 |
| Dundee Prec Mt | DPM | 238038 | 10.98 | -0.35 |
TSX most active issues
| VOLUME(000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| EuroZinc Mng | EZM | 47492 | 3.18 | 2.84 | 3.10 | +0.20 |
| Falconbridge | FAL | 18655 | 62.35 | 62.13 | 62.24 | -0.03 |
| Bema Gold | BGO | 18611 | 6.79 | 6.30 | 6.43 | -0.02 |
| Inco Ltd | N | 12811 | 90.60 | 87.01 | 89.36 | +1.91 |
| Barrick Gold | ABX | 11626 | 37.00 | 34.55 | 35.93 | +1.19 |
| Kinross Gold | K | 11533 | 13.94 | 12.93 | 13.59 | +0.57 |
| Eldorado Gold | ELD | 11089 | 5.75 | 5.22 | 5.30 | -0.04 |
| Cambior Inc | CBJ | 10323 | 3.95 | 3.30 | 3.75 | +0.43 |
| Teck Comin B | TCK.B | 10314 | 81.75 | 75.01 | 81.15 | +6.25 |
| Coalcorp Mng | CCJ | 10206 | 0.73 | 0.64 | 0.70 | +0.05 |
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