For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange gained 1.52%, while the TSX Gold Index rallied 1.5% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, ended the session up 1.28% with advancing issuers actually beating out the declining issues by a 557 to 460 margin with slowing volume of almost 200 million shares traded.

Shares in VMS Ventures got a modest boost after the junior announced that drilling has resumed on its Reed Lake copper-zinc discovery zone in Manitoba. VMS ended the day up C$0.075 at C$0.53.

Finally some profit taking ensued on Goldsource Mines’ red hot coal play. Shares in the junior have exploded following news that two holes testing for kimberlites cut coal instead in east-central Saskatchewan. Having run up from C$0.19 two weeks ago, shares in Goldsource ended the day down C$0.47 at C$4.20.

Swift Resources and Saturn Minerals also gave back some of Thursday’s gains following news it made applications for coal permits in the area. Swift ended the day down C$0.41 at C$0.64, while Saturn lost C$0.145 to C$0.34.

As usual for this time of year, the news flow has stalled to a trickle. That said, the news coming out does tend to be market moving. We will see what Monday trading has in store.