The resource-rich Canadian markets continued to gain momentum to the upside during Thursday trading with only the gold sector showing signs of weakness. For the tale of the tape; the TSX Exchange surged 2.33%, while the TSX Gold Index fell 0.79% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 1.28% with the advancers beating out the decliners by a 432 to 371 margin on 184 million shares traded.

The resource bulls continued to trample the bears during Thursday trading on the Canadian Markets. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange added 2.52%, while the TSX Gold Index climbed another 4.5% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, tacked on 1.14% with the advancers edging out the decliners by a 411 to 374 margin on a weak 123 million shares traded.

The base metals were nearly all in the red on Wednesday. Copper held up until the noon hour, but fell off steeply after that, finishing at its intraday low of $2.0752/lb., down more than 3¾ cents.

A 0.25 per cent cut in interest rates by the Bank of Canada helped propel the big board issues on the Canadian Markets into the black during Tuesday trading. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange climbed 1.33%, while the TSX Gold Index fell 2.6% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, gave back 0.11% with the decliners beating out the advancers by a 349 to 325 margin on volume of 145 million shares traded.

The base metals were mixed on Tuesday. Copper was down sharply in the early pre-dawn hours and lumbered along below the $2 mark until mid-morning, when buyers emerged to push it back to a finish at $2.0338/lb., down 2¾ cents.

The bulls made a valiant effort to fight off the surging bears during Wednesday trading on the Canadian markets. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange added 1.64%, while the TSX Gold was essentially unchanged and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, gave back 0.19% with the decliners beating out the advancers by a 350 to 327 margin on volume of 119 million shares traded.

Despite the continued sell-off in the price of bullion, better than expected earnings results in the financial sector propelled the broader markets higher during Thursday trading on the Canadian Markets. For the tale of the tape; the TSX Exchange added 3.21%, while the TSX Gold Index managed to gain 1.4% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, rallied 0.92% with the advancers edging out the decliners by a 409 to 368 margin on 126 million shares traded.

Worries over the financial health of the major banks sent investors running to the safety of gold during Friday trading on the Canadian markets. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange plunged 2.88%, while the TSX Gold Index added another 3.2% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, fell 1.02% with the decliners swamping the advancers by a 483 to 340 margin on 181 million shares traded.

It was all about gold during Tuesday trading on the Canadian markets, with investors scurrying to bullion as a safe haven against the global economic melt down. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange plunged 3.45%, while the TSX Gold Index surged 4.6% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, fell 0.70%, with the decliners swamping the advancers by a 472 to 336 margin on 161 million shares traded.

The base metals were all leaking red on Tuesday. Outside of a brief morning blip up, copper declined from the pre-dawn hours straight through, finishing at its intraday low of $1.4256/lb., down 11 cents from Friday. Pretty much the same story for nickel, which closed at its intraday low of $4.4006/lb., down more than 20 cents.