Base metals gain

TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE

U.S. stock markets were generally upbeat in the report period Feb. 23-March 1, with the main indices advancing around 2%. The S&P 500 index, for one, finished at 1,210.41, a rise of 26.25 points over the five trading days. The base metal equities followed the broader market, but the golds were lower, probably on profit-taking.

Certainly the big gold miners all saw their share prices fall even though gold bullion rose for most of the period. Newmont Mining was down US35 at US$44.05, AngloGold Ashanti fell US$1.51 to US$35.31, while Harmony Gold Mining was off US24 at US$8.35, and Gold Fields, off US6 at US$11.87. The mid-tier miners did no better. Randgold Resources was US12 lower at US$13.12, Compania de Minas Buenaventura slid US54 to US$21.98, and Durban Roodepoort Deep took a US51 hit to finish at US$1.

Things were much happier in the base metal sandbox. Copper producers, especially, made big gains, none more so than Southern Peru Copper, which added US$7.01 to close at US$61.28. Phelps Dodge was up another US$6.25 to US$103.70 and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold was US$1.58 higher at US$41.27. Two of the Big Three posted gains: Rio Tinto rose US$5.81 to US$138.80 and BHP Billiton added US$1.54 to close at US$30.03. Anglo American was the odd man out, slipping four bits to US$25.25.

WMC Resources was down US14 at US$24.02, in New York trading of four-share ADRs. That price implied a price of A$7.65 for single shares, well above Swiss metal producer Xstrata’s revised bid of A$7.20. No rival bidders have surfaced, but the rumour mill has Rio Tinto, BHP, Inco, Phelps Dodge, Cameco and Cogema all kicking WMC’s tires.