Canadian base metals mining firms stock continue to rise

Reuters reported that several Canadian base metal miners hit multi month highs on the Toronto Stock Exchange on January 6th 2009, as stronger prices and improving expectations for steel demand helped revive some hope for a sustained rebound in the hard hit sector. With copper, zinc, and nickel prices surging ahead of an annual rebalancing by major commodity indexes, companies such as Teck Cominco, Quadra Mining and First Quantum Minerals gains of as much as 50% in the first trading days of the New Year. The copper price climbed by more than 7% extending its one week gain to 19%, while nickel and zinc have also strengthened, with a weaker US dollar contributing to the rise. Mr John Hughes, an analyst at Desjardins Securities said that "We've had a pretty good rally on the equity side right now, but it's probably not sustainable over the longer term. We'll need something more substantive once the reweighing comes in." Others said there's been a noticeable shift in sentiment among metals investors, as some have speculated concerns that slowing Asian growth could obliterate steel demand have been somewhat overblown.