Gold is back above $1,600/oz; TSX is up two percent

Gold started the year right climbing above $1,600, and miners were cheered seeing the S&P/TSX Composite Index gaining over two percent.

Gold may have benefited from the U.S. dollar woes, which sank against the Canadian dollar and other major currencies. One U.S. dollar was equivalent to 1.0089 Canadian dollar, after dropping 1.2 cents.

The news for gold wasn’t all rosy today. The metal suffered a set back when news came out that Indian gold imports were down substantially.

Oil was up to $103 a barrel. The U.S. and Iran have been sabre rattling over the strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping point for oil from the Middle East.

A notable gainer was Hecla Mining Company, the North American silver, gold and zinc producer that had been trading just above its 52-week low of $4.82. Today it was up 9.37% to $5.73 a share. Hecla’s production was set back in 2011 after a string of accidents.

Teck Resources was also up 8.21% to $38.03 a share. Teck’s 52-week high is $65.37 a share.