Gold and investor sentiment
TORONTO, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index hit a one-week high on Friday after positive economic data buoyed commodity prices and lifted hopes for a stable global recovery, fueling gains in every major sector.
The Toronto market strongly outpaced the S&P 500 and maintained a lead over its U.S. counterpart in August to date.
The mood was somewhat tempered by figures showing sales of new single-family homes in the United States slumped in July to their lowest level in nine months.
Investors were encouraged by data showing the strongest quarterly expansion of the German economy in more than a year between April and June.
The numbers, which followed a wave of bullish data from around the world earlier in the week, strengthened the thesis that global growth was starting to gain momentum and took some of the focus away from the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary strategy.
"The recovery is on track," said Irwin Michael, portfolio manager at ABC Funds.
"It looks like the worldwide economies are moving along at a slow pace, but at a positive pace."
"We think the Canadian market is cheap relative to the United States," he added.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 93.53 points, or 0.74 percent, at 12,767.88, its highest level since August 16.
The materials sector, which includes mining stocks, gained 2 percent, with gold producers climbing almost 3 percent.
Goldcorp Inc rose 3 percent to C$32.93, and Barrick Gold Corp advanced 2.7 percent to C$21.13.
As I'm posting this article, the spot Gold price is at $1,396.20/oz., a gain of $25 for the day. Looks like $1400 Gold will hold as retail investment sentiment becomes bearish as the percentage of bulls out there dropped to 35% from 70% a month earlier, but historically once we get to those extreme levels of bearishness we start to see the Big Money, the institutional buyer move in which helps to support the equity markets.
With All this volatility..
I'm Sure glad Anaconda has No Debt.
GLTA!!! Cheers!!!