Markets in the U.S. continued their downward spiral during the Jan. 29-Feb. 5 report period, as calls for war against Iraq grew louder in Washington. The S&P 500 slipped 10.34 points, or 1.2%, to close at 848.20, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 75.55 points, or 0.9%, to finish at 8,013.29.
Unhedged gold producers had trouble holding on to their status as safe havens in troubled times, and a strong rally in overseas markets seemed to have no effect on any. Newmont Mining rose US33 to US$29.79 on a volume of 20 million shares, making it the most active of the bunch, but Goldfields sank US72 to US$13.49, followed by Harmony Gold, which slipped US4 to US$16.15. Harmony also announced the sale of its 1.9% stake in avid hedger Placer Dome of Canada. AngloGold also lost ground, slipping US46 to US$36.44, though it’s an avid hedger.
The U.S. copper miners were a mixed bag: Phelps Dodge, despite reporting a fourth-quarter loss of US$222 million, rose US65 to US$35; Southern Peru Copper slipped 10 to US$15.75; and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold climbed US23 to US$18.97.
Among the overseas conglomerates, BHP Billiton pushed ahead two pennies to US$10.76 as it announced its intention to relinquish a pre-emptive right in Rio Tinto‘s Bajo de la Alumbrera copper-gold mine in Argentina. Canadian-based junior Wheaton River Minerals has proposed to buy the mine for US$219 million.
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