The Canadian markets were stuck in a bit of a trading rut but the more junior exploration stocks continued to inch higher on speculation of upcoming drill results. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange fell a modest 0.01%, while the TSX Gold Index was the big loser by dropping 2.3% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 1.07% with the advancers beating out the decliners by a 459 to 393 margin on a robust 252 million shares traded.

Investors were in a buying mood for a second straight day, with equities seeing green arrows across the board during Thursday trading on the Canadian markets. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange surged 1.93%, while the TSX Gold Index rallied 2.8% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 0.92% with the advancing issuers edging out the decliners by a 380 to 229 margin on 138 million shares traded.