Canada’s First Majestic was among the biggest gainers, surging more than 30 per cent after a report it won a reprieve on criminal tax fraud charges in Mexico.
Shares in video game retailer GameStop Corp, AMC Corp and Blackberry have soared as small investors, organising on social media, have piled in and forced professional short-sellers to abandon their positions with heavy losses. Gains in those stocks were clipped Thursday amid trading restrictions.
But fresh posts on the Reddit discussion board WallStreetBets urged members to invest in First Majestic and the iShares Silver Trust ETF.
“Once you’re done with GME – $AG and $SLV, the gentleman’s short squeeze, driven by macro fundamentals,” one of the posts said.
The number of short trades as a percentage of total traded volume for First Majestic jumped to 24.9 per cent in the first half of January, from 21.1 per cent in the second half of December, regulatory filings showed.
Trading in First Majestic’s stock – traded under the same ticker as silver’s periodic table symbol ‘AG’ – was briefly halted in New York while its Toronto-listed shares were last up 12 per cent.
First Majestic said it was unaware of any material undisclosed information.
Todd Anthony, vice-president of corporate development, confirmed a media report that a judge in Mexico City declined to charge the Canadian mining company with criminal tax fraud.
He declined further comment.
Fortuna Silver Mines Inc rose 10.5 per cent and London-listed Fresnillo Plc gained as much as 10 per cent to top the FTSE.
Shares in Pan American Silver, Endeavour Silver and Silvercorp also rose. The companies did not return requests for comment.
Spot silver prices rose almost 7 per cent before retreating.
“We are pleased to see the move in both the silver price and our share price today,” said spokeswoman Simona Antolak at Wheaton Precious Metals, which rose as much as 6.5 per cent.
