Denver — The Dow Jones industrial average weakened slightly to 10,591.22, to finish the Feb. 28-March 6 report period down 45.66 points, or 0.4%, while gold gave up most of the previous week’s gains.
The spot price for gold on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange slumped back to US$259.90 per oz., weighing heavily on most producers. South Africa’s AngloGold slipped 95 to US$16.06; Newmont Mining lost 49 to close at US$16.68; Nasdaq-listed Gold Fields shed 32 to US$4.06; Harmony Gold Mining fell 94 to US$4.62; Meridian Gold sunk 86 to US$6.52; Homestake Mining was off 17 to US$5.60; and Randgold & Exploration plunged 88 to US$2.
Comex copper firmed up, to US84 per lb., adding oomph to Phelps Dodge, which jumped $3.16 to US$49.15. Class A and B shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold edged up 3 and 27 to close at US$12.78 and US$14.27, respectively, while Rio Tinto hit a new high of US$77.79, up $3.49. Australia’s WMC advanced $1.35 to US$17.30 after reporting its earnings had tripled in 2000.
Silver continues to get battered, sinking below US$4.50 per oz. and sending Apex Silver Mines down $1.20 to US$8.66. Peru’s Compania de Minas Buenaventura fell $1.64 to US$14.69, despite posting improved earnings. Coeur d’Alene Mines lost 17 to close at US$1.37.
De Beers Consolidated Mines climbed 61 to US$43.25, while Anglo American, which, along with the Oppenheimer family, has offered to take out the diamond producer, edged up 37 to 67.62. With the palladium balloon losing air, Stillwater Mining fell 89 to US$32.91.
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