TSX down for Feb.7-14 period

The TSX Composite Index endured a tough period as the Index fell roughly 88 points to 13,766.76 for the Feb. 7-11 period.

The fall came as experts predicted a slump in housing starts and housing prices in Canada due to a divergence in wages and home values.

The news wasn’t all bad on the economic front, however, as exports jumped 9.7% in December, which meant they managed to outpace imports and create a trade surplus. That could well translate into stronger economic growth numbers for the month.

But the big story of the week wasn’t found in economic data, instead it came from word of a proposed merger between the TMX Group and the LSE. If successful the merger would make for a global leader in energy and mining stock trading, but questions remain if the deal will get the required government approval.

The idea of a new trading platform for miners did little to help gold miners on the TSX however. The Global Gold Index was off 6 points and finished at 382.88 despite gold rising US$17 to finish at US$1,354.00 per oz. The price of the yellow metal was seen as benefiting from the political turmoil in North Africa.

The Capped Metals and Mining Index fell 49 points to finish at 1,532.89 as the prices for copper, aluminum, nickel, lead and zinc were all lower. The price of tin, however, managed to continue on its extended bull run as it finished the period 7¢ higher at US$14.27 per lb.

Results from a geochemical soil survey seemed to be enough to get Velocity Minerals some attention. The company’s shares jumped 29% to 18¢ after the study showed two separate anomalous areas for gold in the Orogrande mining district in Idaho County, Idaho.

MagIndustries saw its shares tumble after a key investor pulled out of a deal to acquire shares in the company. The company reported that TSC Capital would not follow through on a letter of intent announced in December of last year. MagIndustries said it was working on alternative transactions. The company’s shares were off 29% to 39¢ for the period

It wasn’t a strong period for EMC Metals either. The company released results from test work on producing scandium-aluminum alloys which said more test work was needed to improve its understanding. Future tests will involve more capital as they will require larger scale facilities and higher temperature tests. EMC shares fell 22.8% to 27¢ for the period.

Staying with market losers, Magma Metals lost 20% of its market cap for the period as its shares closed at 39¢. The fall came after the release of a scoping study for its Thunder Bay North platinum-palladium-copper-nickel project that predicted an internal rate of return of 13% and a net present value of $41 million using an 8% discount rate.