It was a relatively buoyant week for U.S. equity markets ahead of a widely expected interest rate cut. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 478.3 points to close at 13,727.03 over the Dec. 4-10 trading period, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 53.17 points to close at 1,515.96. (Stocks fell on Dec. 11, however, on news that the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by only a quarter of a percentage point, disappointing many who had wanted a more sizable reduction.)
Gold finished the trading session at US$808.30 per oz., up slightly from the US$798.10 per oz. recorded on Dec. 4 — but still down from the peaks of over US$820 reached in late November. The Amex Gold Bugs Index was up 10.32 points to 416.180 and the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index rose 5.94 points to 176.53. StreetTracks Gold, an exchange-traded fund, rose US$1.72 to US$80.
Newmont Mining edged up US93 to US$50.83. But most major gold stocks recorded bland performances. Barrick Gold fell US41 to US$40.67 and AngloGold Ashanti dropped US$3.60 to US$44.79. Mid-tier gold and silver producer Coeur d’Alene Mines held steady at US$4.39.
Rio Tinto was the mover among the base metal stocks, soaring US$28.32 to US$477.71. The most active base metal stock was Vale on media reports that the company had hired bankers to consider a potential takeover offer for Xstrata. Vale saw 85.6 million of its shares trade hands and closed at US$36.18.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold jumped US$11.33 to US$108.18, on news that it plans to restart its Climax molybdenum mine in Colorado. The initial US$500-million project involves the restart of open-pit mining and the construction of new, state-of-the-art milling facilities. Annual production is expected at around 30 million lbs. molybdenum beginning in 2010.
While many copper participants in the market remained concerned about fallout from the subprime housing and lending crisis, copper producers like Southern Copper fared well. Its stock increased US$7.11 to US$116.43. Copper prices during the trading session hovered between US$2.99 and US$3.02 per lb.
U.S. greatest percentage change
VOLUME(000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | |||
Puda Coal* | PUDC | 1770 | 1.29 | 0.85 | 1.15 | + | 37.7 |
Douglas Lk Ml* | DLKM | 276 | 0.25 | 0.145 | 0.20 | + | 33.3 |
Raven Gold* | RVNG | 377 | 0.92 | 0.57 | 0.83 | + | 31.7 |
Mosaic* | MOS | 19906 | 84.52 | 70.60 | 84.40 | + | 16.9 |
Entree Gold* | EGI | 354 | 2.80 | 2.24 | 2.69 | + | 15.9 |
Anooraq Res* | ANO | 936 | 4.35 | 3.76 | 4.30 | + | 14.6 |
Alpha Nat Res* | ANR | 8426 | 32.53 | 27.54 | 31.87 | + | 14.2 |
CONSOL Energy* | CNX | 14019 | 66.02 | 56.38 | 65.31 | + | 13.8 |
Quest Capital* | QCC | 4721 | 2.89 | 2.21 | 2.78 | + | 13.4 |
Northern Dyn* | NAK | 2061 | 13.01 | 10.93 | 12.82 | + | 13.2 |
World Vent* | WVNTF | 118 | 0.12 | 0.06 | 0.06 | – | 50.0 |
NT Holding* | NTHH | 50 | 0.05 | 0.04 | 0.04 | – | 42.8 |
McKenzie Bay* | MKBY | 3637 | 0.029 | 0.013 | 0.016 | – | 40.7 |
HE-5 Res* | HRRN | 291 | 0.055 | 0.03 | 0.04 | – | 33.3 |
Alberta Star * | ASXSF | 1974 | 0.56 | 0.42 | 0.42 | – | 25.0 |
North Am Pall* | PAL | 5593 | 5.05 | 3.95 | 4.04 | – | 19.0 |
Global Gold* | GBGD | 254 | 0.52 | 0.40 | 0.425 | – | 18.2 |
Sao Luis Mng* | SAOL | 133 | 0.17 | 0.15 | 0.15 | – | 16.6 |
AmMex Gold* | AMXG | 617 | 0.18 | 0.13 | 0.16 | – | 15.7 |
Patriot Gold* | PGOL | 130 | 0.10 | 0.075 | 0.09 | – | 14.2 |
U.S. greatest value change
VOLUME | CLOSE | CHANGE | |||
Rio Tinto* | RTP | 1742971 | 477.71 | + | 28.32 |
Mosaic* | MOS | 19905647 | 84.40 | + | 12.20 |
Soc Quim&M Ch* | SQM | 152500 | 185.35 | + | 11.35 |
Freeport McMo* | FCX | 49696511 | 108.18 | + | 11.33 |
Cleveland-Cli* | CLF | 6532134 | 98.46 | + | 8.96 |
Potash C Sask* | POT | 16289590 | 132.30 | + | 8.46 |
CONSOL Energy* | CNX | 14018634 | 65.31 | + | 7.96 |
Southern Copp* | PCU | 8482202 | 116.43 | + | 7.11 |
Peabody Enrgy* | BTU | 18510455 | 59.45 | + | 4.42 |
Fording C C T* | FDG | 7790080 | 38.36 | + | 4.00 |
AngloGold Ash* | AU | 9994068 | 44.79 | – | 3.60 |
Yanzhou Coal* | YZC | 319925 | 99.09 | – | 2.40 |
North Am Pall* | PAL | 5593055 | 4.04 | – | 0.95 |
Banro Res* | BAA | 52100 | 11.21 | – | 0.79 |
Gammon Gold* | GRS | 4949905 | 8.12 | – | 0.64 |
Westmoreland* | WLB | 194900 | 15.387 | – | 0.623 |
Gold Fields* | GFI | 27379130 | 15.99 | – | 0.53 |
Alexco Res* | AXU | 329350 | 4.45 | – | 0.53 |
Mesabi Trust* | MSB | 110300 | 21.59 | – | 0.46 |
Allied Nevada* | ANV | 50500 | 6.23 | – | 0.42 |
U.S. most active issues
VOLUME(000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | |||
Vale* | RIO | 85630 | 36.84 | 34.00 | 36.18 | + | 1.28 |
Freeport McMo* | FCX | 49697 | 109.87 | 93.78 | 108.18 | + | 11.33 |
Alcoa* | AA | 40514 | 37.97 | 34.86 | 37.85 | + | 2.36 |
StreetTr Gold* | GLD | 35381 | 80.30 | 77.80 | 80.00 | + | 1.72 |
Coeur d Alene* | CDE | 33576 | 4.47 | 4.06 | 4.39 | -0.00 | |
Barrick Gold* | ABX | 29523 | 41.26 | 38.90 | 40.67 | – | 0.41 |
Goldcorp* | GG | 28794 | 34.48 | 31.93 | 33.95 | + | 1.37 |
Newmont Mng* | NEM | 27504 | 51.34 | 49.07 | 50.83 | + | 0.93 |
Gold Fields* | GFI | 27379 | 16.98 | 15.25 | 15.99 | – | 0.53 |
Golden Star* | GSS | 24149 | 3.20 | 2.78 | 3.15 | + | 0.17 |
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