Toronto Stock Exchange – Jan. 6-12

The TSX fell during the Jan. 6-12 trading session, with the S&P/TSX composite index losing 492 points, or 5.3%, to 8,793. Metal and mining issues sustained heavier losses, with the S&P/TSX Capped Metals and Mining index dropping 34 points, or 11.3%, to 270, and the S&P/TSX Capped Materials index falling 20 points, or 8.2%, to 221.

The stock exchange lost ground on negative employment data on both sides of the border, with the U. S. shedding 524,000 jobs in December, while Canada lost 34,000 jobs, raising the unemployment rate by 0.3% to 6.6%. Canada’s trade balance also deteriorated, as the country’s trade surplus shrank to a mere $1.3 billion in November.

According to TD Bank, base metal prices are supported to some extent by the possibility that index funds could increase weightings for the metals, which would raise investment demand. Another catalyst for base metal demand is government spending, which investors hope will revive industrial demand for metals.

The gold sector, which has been the star performer in the resource complex over the last few weeks, lost ground on falling bullion prices as traders took profit. Gold major Barrick Gold fell $2.79 to $37.99, and Newmont Mining dropped $2.44 to $43.64.

Diversified miner Teck fell $1.60 to $6.60 after China’s State Reserve Bureau cancelled a plan to raise copper purchases. The price of Teck shares has fallen hard in recent months under its debt burden. The company has announced 1,400 job cuts, and slashed coal production to 20 million tonnes owing to declining demand for steel.

Coal companies fell, with Grande Cache Coal losing 71¢ to 88¢, Western Canadian Coal dropping 51¢ to 56¢, and Cline Mining falling 15¢ to 25¢. Reuters reported that thermal coal prices in Australia were above US$81 per tonne, but the outlook for coal was weak as power utilities cut back on purchases because of lower demand for electricity.

Meanwhile, CIC Energy, which is trying to get a coal-fired power station built in Botswana, gained 35¢ to $2.50. In December, CIC selected a Chinese company as a preferred engineering contractor for the project.

Africo Resources, which owns a copper-cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, fell 33¢ to 42¢ as the armed conflict in the country continued to rage despite peace talks.

Far West Mining rose 42¢ to $1.22 after acquiring exploration properties near its flagship Santo Domingo copper project in Chile.

Diamond explorer Shore Gold lost 20¢ to 36¢ after announcing a reduced exploration budget of $18 million.

Finally, Crystallex International shares dropped 13¢ to 22¢. The company’s Las Cristinas gold project in Venezuela remains in limbo as the government has refused to grant the project an environmental permit.

TSX most active issues
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Teck B	TCKB	47146	8.85	6.24	6.60	-1.60
Uranium One	UUU	31923	1.98	1.71	1.80	-0.04
Yamana Gold	YRI	29889	9.04	7.76	7.76	-0.76
Eastern Platin	ELR	25896	0.47	0.38	0.41	+ 0.04
Goldcorp	G	25025	35.90	30.09	30.40	-4.32
WesternCCoal	WTN	23747	1.19	0.55	0.56	-0.51
Barrick Gold	ABX	22800	41.01	36.85	37.99	-2.79
KinrossGold	K	22138	22.05	19.87	20.41	-0.56
Denison Mines	DML	20085	1.80	1.45	1.46	-0.39
Equinox Minls	EQN	18673	2.10	1.50	1.56	-0.15

TSX greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
North Atlc Res	NAC	148	0.07	0.05	0.06	+200.0
Avnel Gold	AVK	38	0.12	0.05	0.12	+100.0
VG Gold	VG	280	0.12	0.08	0.12	+ 71.4
Nuinsco Res	NWI	893	0.06	0.05	0.05	+ 66.6
Cancor Mines	KCR	164	0.05	0.03	0.05	+ 66.6
Aquila Res	AQA	524	0.27	0.13	0.19	+ 58.3
Coro Mining	COP	96	0.22	0.16	0.20	+ 53.8
Far West Mng	FWM	199	1.73	0.90	1.22	+ 52.5
Blue Note Mng	BN	12989	0.03	0.02	0.03	+ 50.0
Colombia Goldf	GOL	257	0.04	0.02	0.03	+ 50.0
GLR Res	GRS	8777	0.02	0.01	0.01	-50.0
Western C Coal	WTN	23747	1.19	0.55	0.56	-47.6
GrandeCacheC	GCE	15717	1.93	0.87	0.88	-44.6
Africo Res	ARL	390	0.75	0.42	0.42	-44.0
Suramina Res	SAX	150	0.30	0.17	0.17	-41.3
Cline Mng	CMK	1289	0.43	0.25	0.25	-37.5
Zazu Metals	ZAZ	90	0.18	0.10	0.10	-37.5
Crystallex Int	KRY	5696	0.40	0.21	0.22	-37.1
Shore Gold	SGF	15845	0.59	0.25	0.36	-35.7
Pinetree Cap	PNP	5724	1.76	1.07	1.07	-35.1

TSX greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Horizns G Bear	HGD	4473231	13.93	+ 1.50
Seabridge Gold	SEA	37429	15.98	+ 1.08
Marklnd AGF PM	MPM	11100	5.25	+ 0.75
Mag Silver	MAG	630421	6.15	+ 0.75
Silver Std Res	SSO	685909	19.90	+ 0.75
Dynasty Met&Mn	DMM	251150	3.32	+ 0.63
Alamos Gold	AGI	4587842	7.73	+ 0.51
Far West Mng	FWM	198872	1.22	+ 0.42
Vista Gold	VGZ	34440	1.76	+ 0.36
CIC Energy	ELC	561205	2.50	+ 0.35
Potash Cp Sask	POT	9270533	89.50	-9.00
Agrium	AGU	6945238	38.84	-5.26
Royal Gold	RGL	16920	50.02	-4.96
Central Gold-T	GTU_U	137856	40.69	-4.71
Goldcorp	G	25024923	30.40	-4.32
Barrick Gold	ABX	22800403	37.99	-2.79
Agnico-Eagle	AEM	6056101	56.37	-2.59
Major Drilling	MDI	589723	12.03	-2.54
IShCOMEXGTr	IGT	44862	98.21	-2.47
Newmont Mng	NMC	182727	43.64	-2.44