After posting nice returns earlier in the week, the Canadian markets took a well deserved rest during Friday trading. For the tale of the tape: the TSX Exchange tacked on 0.11%, while the TSX Gold Index fell 0.60%, and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 0.50% with the advancers beating out the decliners by a 415 to 373 margin on a modest 137 million shares traded.

The Canadian Markets started off the month of December on a sour note with the bears once again coming out of hibernation to maul the bulls. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange plunged 9.32%, while the TSX Gold Index fell 13.8% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, dropped 3.55% with the declining issuers outpacing the advancers by a 543 to 253 margin on volume of 144 million shares traded.

Investors came off the Labour Day weekend in a selling mood as a sharp drop in the price of bullion and oil propelled the resource-rich Canadian markets lower during Tuesday trading. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange lost 3.23%, while the TSX Gold Index plunged 6.5% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, fell 2.72% with the declining issuers swamping the advancers by a 588 to 312 margin on volume of 104 million shares traded.