As is the norm of late, news flow slowed to a drip during Friday trading on the Canadian Markets with the headline on the junior front being a proposed three way merger. For the tale of the tape; the TSX Exchange added 0.63%, while the TSX Gold Index tacked on 1% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, gave back 0.20% with the advancers beating out the decliners by a 430 to 360 margin on 176 million shares traded.

Gold had another uneventful day. The slight downward trend that developed in London was erased before 10 a.m. on the Comex and the yellow metal stayed flat from there, finishing near where it started, at $937.70/oz., up $0.70. For the week, gold is up 2.7%.

For the week ending 10 July 2009, it seems to have been almost all down hill since I last posted my commentary two weeks ago.  Gold and silver bullion as well as stocks have broken on the down side but there is still some life left.  Let’s get at today’s assessment.

Commodity related stocks bounced off their recent lows and that helped the Canadian markets post gains during Thursday’s session. For the tale of the tape: the TSX Exchange rallied 1.25%, while the TSX Gold Index bounced up 0.8% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 0.85% with the advancers edging out the decliners by a 386 to 325 margin on a pathetic 108 million shares traded.

Gold traded mostly sideways yesterday. Apart from a $10 jump up towards the end of Comex trading and then an equal slide down early on the Globex, it was a tame day. The yellow metal closed at $912.30/oz., up $3.20. Overnight, gold is trending lower.

The selloff in commodity-related stocks continued with a vengeance during Wednesday trading on the Canadian Markets. For the tale of the tape; the TSX Exchange was down 1.94%, while the TSX Gold Index fell 3.8% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, plunged 3.32% with the decliners swamping the advancers by a 593 to 248 margin on a modest 168 million shares traded.

Gold was quiet until the mid-point of London trading on Wednesday, but then commenced a long, steady decline that didn’t bottom until about 1 p.m. in New York, at which point it bounced off of $905 and inched a bit higher through the Globex to finish at $909.10/oz., down $15.00. Overnight, gold is edging higher.

Gold had a day of wild sentiment swings to little ultimate effect on Tuesday, originally drifting lower in the far East, spiking sharply in early London trading to its intraday high of $932, falling to the noon hour in New York, rallying back to the end of the Comex, and finally selling off again on the Globex to finish at $924.10/oz., down 80 cents. Overnight, gold has slipped lower.

Gold was flat until the mid-point of the Hong Kong session on Monday, fell steadily from there to a low of $920 in the second hour of Comex trading, then rallied modestly through the rest of the day to regain a little lost ground and finish at $924.90/oz., down $3.90 from Thursday. Overnight, gold is slightly higher.

Investors came off the Canada Day holiday in a selling mood as profit taking dominated the resource sector during Thursday trading on the Canadian Markets. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange was down 1.24%, while the TSX Gold Index rebounded 0.9% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added a modest 0.06% with the decliners edging out the advancers by a 400 to 316 margin on a weak 118 million shares traded.