STOCK MARKETS — Golds gain ground to bolster TSE

The Toronto Stock Exchange was fractionally higher over the report period ended March 26, with the TSE 300 composite index adding 17.94 points to close at 4,985.21. Gold stocks were especially strong, with the gold and precious metals sub-index up 740.04 points to 12,751.84, a gain of 6.1%.

The Canadian dollar continued a strong performance this week, rising against European currencies and sliding only marginally against the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen. The Loony was down US0.20 cents to US73.35 cents by noon on March 27. The Bank of Canada took advantage of the strong dollar to drop the bank rate by 25 basis points to 5.25%.

Gold enjoyed a steady rise all week on the London bullion market, adding $5.30 over the week to reach US$400 per oz. at the morning fix on March 27. Silver was also higher, tacking on 19 cents to reach US$5.69, and platinum was $4 higher at US$414.50 per oz.

TSE gold issues matched the increase in precious-metal prices, rising steadily through to March 25, then registering a 400-point gain on the following day. TVX Gold was the most active gold for the third straight week, seeing 10.5 million shares traded and rising $1 to close at $13.12. Three other golds also traded heavily, with Barrick Gold closing at $42.88, up $4, Kinross Gold reaching $11.75, up 62 cents, and Placer Dome finishing the report period at $39.75, up $1.88. Placer announced that it had completed a positive feasibility study at the Cristinas gold project in Venezuela, where it has a 70% interest.

Hemlo Gold was also active, adding $1.38 to close at $18.88, while suitor Battle Mountain Gold was unchanged at $12.88. Battle Mountain’s bid for Hemlo is a 1.5-for-1 share swap.

Viceroy Resource announced plans to merge with Baja Gold and Loki Gold. Under the plan, shareholders of Loki will receive one Viceroy share for each 2.3 shares of Loki, and Baja shareholders will receive one Viceroy share for each 3.4 shares of Baja.

London base metal prices were mixed — again — with nickel up another 7 cents to US$3.79 per lb. Lead lost 4 cents to reach US37 cents per lb., and zinc was down 1 cents to US48 cents.

The market had closed when Inco announced its bid for Diamond Fields Resources. Inco, down $1.38 to $47.38 when the market closed on March 26, had fallen another $4.12 by the closing bell on March 27. Diamond Fields, which had gained $1 on the week to close at $36.38, was up $3.12 to $39.50 at the close. Both stocks traded actively, with 1.9 million Inco and 3.1 million Diamond Fields shares trading on March 27. The other principal player in the drama, Falconbridge, was at $28.75, unchanged from the week before. Teck B shares, which had closed March 26 at $29.25, down 25 cents on the week, were trading at $29.75 by presstime.

Other base metal issues were mixed on the week, with the metals and minerals sub-index off 59.98 points (1.1%) to 5,403.84. Noranda was down 12 cents to close at $29, Cameco lost 62 cents to finish at $72, and Rio Algom fell 62 cents to $25. Moving up were Cominco, which added 25 cents to close at $31.88, and Westmin Resources, trading actively for the second week in a row and picking up 62 cents to close at $9.75.

Montreal-listed Ditem Exploration cooled down this week, falling $9.88 to finish at $6. Guyanor Ressources also came back to earth, closing at $10, down $4.25 from the previous week. Nufort Resources was also lower, sliding 95 cents to close at $1.65.

Bresea Resources was off $1.12 to finish at $13.75. The company is sensitive to the volatile price of Bre-X Minerals, which was down $5 on the Alberta Stock Exchange.

Geomaque Resources was 9 cents higher at $2.79, following a rise of 10 cents the week before. The company announced that drilling at its San Francisco mine in Sonora state, Mexico, had established a significant extension on the known deposit.