Haywood-1-1The price of gold reaffirmed its status as a safe haven asset as global equity markets capitulated, with most other commodities following suit. Gold continued its rise above $1,100 from last week, piercing the $1,150 support level on Thursday. Leading the push into gold, the dire state of the Chinese economy is becoming more apparent by the week, with factory data from Caixin/Markit falling at its fastest pace in over six years, dropping to 47.1 in August from 47.8 in July. The Shanghai Composite Index responded in kind by falling a further 13% during the week, while elsewhere the ramifications of a stalling Chinese economy were also felt in the U.S., with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling over 900 points during the week. Minutes from the Federal Reserve suggested that a rise in interest rates in September was less likely, taking the steam out of the U.S. dollar which also contributed to the rise in the price of gold. To make matters worse, the world’s third largest economy, Japan, announced a 1.6% fall in GDP for Q2/15, and speculation mounted that a fresh round of stimulus would be injected into its economy. The price of WTI crude fell to its lowest point since February 2013, breaking the $41 per barrel support level and heading towards the $40 per barrel mark, momentarily falling below $40 before steadying at $40.32 per barrel on Friday. Closer to home, both the S&P/TSX Composite (↓6%) and Venture Composite (↓6.5%) indexes also fell to 52-week lows on Friday. Base metals followed suit, with copper (↓1.8%), nickel (↓4%), lead (↓2.8%) and zinc (↓3.8%) down, despite a mini-resurgence mid-week, to finish at $2.30, $4.61, $0.77 and $0.80 per pound respectively. Finally, amid the backdrop in global markets, the UxC Broker Average Price (BAP) for uranium was up slightly late in the week, finishing at $36.56 per pound.

Companies mentioned: $BTO $LGC $TV $EDR $ICG $ABX $DSF $AKG

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