Upbeat market sinks golds

U.S. equity markets enjoyed strong gains during the report period June 2-8, with the golds generally lower and base metal stocks generally higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, rising 229.87 points, or 2.3% of value, to a close of 10,432.52, outpaced its more broadly based cousin, the S&P 500, which was up 20.98 points to 1,142.18, a gain of 1.9%.

Bullion prices, while softer during the period, didn’t back off significantly, but gold equities did. Newmont Mining was off US16 at US$39.49, and the three big South Africans all slid: AngloGold Ashanti was down US36 at US$33.80, Gold Fields fell US31, to US$11, and Harmony Gold Mining lost US26 to finish at US$11. That ran through to the mid-tiers as well, with Compania de Minas Buenaventura falling US7 to US$22.95 and Randgold Resources sliding US21 to US$17.99. Lihir Gold bucked the trend, rising US32 to US$13.78.

In contrast, the base metal producers took strength from generally positive economic news, and advanced along with the broader market. Copper prices were back in the US$1.25-per-lb. range, but copper-sensitive equities still moved higher: Phelps Dodge was up US24 at US$68.95 and Southern Peru Copper up US96 at US$31.65. Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold was more copper than gold this time, adding US99 to finish at US$32.90.

The big international base metal producers were uniformly higher: Anglo American rose US13 to US$21.50, Rio Tinto climbed US93 to US$98.65, BHP Billiton added 18 to close at US$17.29, and WMC Resources picked up US35 to finish the period at US$13.08.