STOCK MARKETS — Toronto market has another quiet week

The Toronto Stock Exchange traded lightly during the report period Aug.

7-13, and finished fractionally higher. The TSE 300 composite index rose 23.98 points to close at 5,048.24. Golds lost ground, and the metals and minerals stocks rose only slightly, trailing the market as a whole.

The Canadian dollar was only marginally lower against its U.S. counterpart, even though the Bank of Canada cut the overnight loan rate another 25 basis points to 4.5%. The Loony traded at US72.74 cents, down only 0.03 cents against the greenback. The dollar was higher against the Japanese yen and French franc, but lower against sterling and the German mark.

Gold traded in a narrow range this week, but, at US$387.10, was still $1.15 lower at the Aug. 14 morning fix in London. Platinum was unchanged at US$400 per oz. and silver reversed a long slide, adding 4 cents to finish the report period at US$5.09 per oz.

The TSE gold and precious minerals sub-index fell 92.88 points from a week before, closing at 11,524.92. The most active gold was Bema Gold, which added 40 cents to close Aug. 13 at $6.60. By the close of trading at presstime, it had added another 40 cents to touch $7. Bema and Vancouver-listed Arizona Star Resources were to announce results on their Aldebaran property in northern Chile.

Most of the heavily traded golds took slight losses, as investors who had been in on last week ‘s gains took their profits. Placer Dome was down 45 cents to $33.35, Kinross Gold 30 cents to $10.10, Echo Bay 30 cents to $14, and Barrick Gold 55 cents to $38.70.

Swimming against the tide were diamond explorer Aber Resources, which added 90 cents to close at $21.55, and Greenstone Resources, up 35 cents to $18.40.

The base metal markets saw copper and nickel take their customary wild rides, with nickel adding 3 cents to close the Aug. 14 ring at US$3.16 per lb. and copper fading 2 cents to US91 cents per lb. Zinc was essentially unchanged at US46 cents and lead added a penny to close the report period at US38 cents.

Metals and minerals stocks were mixed, with the TSE subindex up 7.84 points to 5,115.02. Noranda fell 10 cents to $28, and Falconbridge was off 30 cents to $28.60. Inco and Diamond Fields Resources, which announced that their merger should be closed on Aug. 21, were both lower, with Inco down 20 cents at $42.70 and Diamond Fields down 45 cents at $40.30.

Most of the other metal miners were higher, with Cominco adding $1.20 to close at $29.15, Rio Algom up 75 cents to $26.80 and International Curator $1.30 higher at $14.85.

The junior explorers continued to be lively, with Montreal-listed Vior Mining the volume leader for the week with 12.6 million shares traded. Vior was up 8 cents to $1.15. Vior is said to be gearing up for further exploration on the Douay West property, possibly including underground development. The property hosts a resource of 590,000 tons averaging 0.29 oz. per ton in the west zone, plus resources in other zones.

Manhattan Minerals, which reported that early production at its Moris open-pit gold mine in northwestern Mexico was proving to be better than expected, was $1.05 higher at $6.45.

Other significant price moves among the juniors were Quest Capital, up 70 cents to $2.45 on the TSE, and Golden Gram Resources, up 50 cents to $1.85 on the ME.

Takeover target Arequipa Resources was up 55 cents to $28.70. The company ‘s board advised shareholders to wait for further exploration results before accepting the Barrick offer of $27 per share.