Falling high-technology stocks pulled down the Dow Jones industrial average for the report period ended Feb. 9. The average closed down 141.09 points, or 1.5%, to 9,133.03.
Mining companies were mixed as metal prices struggled to emerge from their recent slump. The leading gainer was copper producer Rio Tinto, which jumped $4.56 to US$53.31 on a short mid-week rally in the red metal. New York Stock Exchange-listed Phelps Dodge regained ground lost over the past month to close up $4.07 to US$47.19.
Cyprus Amax Minerals, depressed for several weeks, also benefited from the push in copper prices to as high as US68 cents per lb. The producer closed up $2.25 to US$12. Class A and B shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold rose $1 and 74 cents, respectively, to close, in both cases, at US$10.62. Broken Hill Proprietary advanced 44 cents to US$15.25.
Peru’s Buenaventura picked up 50 cents to close at US$13 on a short rally in silver.
Most gold producers were down, owing to a quick drop in the price of the yellow metal at the end of the week. Homestake Mining was down 87 cents to US$9.19, despite having posted fourth-quarter income of US$1.4 million (1 cents per share); American Stock Exchange-listed Getchell Gold dropped $1.44 to close at US$26.81; Ashanti Goldfields slipped 81 cents to US$8.25; and Battle Mountain Gold dipped a quarter to US$3.56 after reporting a loss of US$224 million (98 cents per share).
DeBeers Consolidated Mines traded 12.1 million shares, closing up 69 cents to US$14.88. No reason for the increase was offered.
Be the first to comment on "MINING MARKETS & INVESTMENT NEWS – U.S. MARKETS — High-techs send market tumbling"