It was a quiet news day during Friday trading on the Canadian markets as investors bailed out of the gold stocks and went bargain hunting for undervalued base metal plays. For the tale of the tape, the TSX exchange rallied 3.16%, while the TSX Gold Index fell 2.9% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 0.89% with the declining issuers inching past the advancers by a 444 to 419 margin on good volume of 169 million shares traded.

The hemorrhaging continued during Thursday trading on the Canadian Markets as falling commodity prices had investors running for the exits yet again. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange lost 0.58%, while the TSX Gold Index plunged 9.5% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, fell 5.39% with the declining issuers swamping the advancers by a 668 to 247 margin on volume of 153 million shares traded.

The unified interest rate cuts that included a 0.5% reduction in Canada did little to bolster investor confidence early on, but a binge of late day buying propelled the big board into the black by the close of Wednesday trading on the Canadian Markets.

It was all about the gold miners during Wednesday trading on the Canadian markets as the global financial meltdown had investors running for the safety of bullion.