U. S. stock markets drifted down during the shortened Dec. 19-22 trading session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 85 points, or 1%, to 8,520; the S&P 500 index lost 14 points, or 1.5%, to 872; and the Nasdaq dropped 20 points, or 1.3%, to 1,532. Precious metal indices gave up some of their recent gains, with the Amex Gold Bugs index falling 6 points, or 2.3%, to 268, and the Philadelphia Gold and Silver index dropping 1 point, or 0.9%, to 110. One reason for the declines in equities is tax-loss selling, which should subside shortly.
Patricia Mohr, vice-president economics and commodity market specialist at Scotiabank, projects that a number of commodities should outperform if investors are prepared to take a two-year view, including gold, which should be underpinned by a U. S. deficit as large as US$1.25 trillion, and potash, still at record prices. Mohr says curtailed capital spending in new oil-field development will set the stage for a tight oil market and a big price rebound early in the next decade and spot prices for uranium oxide should rise to US$70 per lb. in the medium term as India starts buying uranium again. Within the base metals, copper should outperform.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold fell US$2 to US$21.32 as copper prices fell 5.4% during the session owing to lower demand and higher inventories.
Small gold companies were up on the week, led by Royal Gold, up US$2.99 to US$45.01, with Seabridge Gold, Lihir Gold, and Allied Nevada Gold also moving up. Investors might be anticipating a wave of consolidation in the gold sector, as larger companies look to prime their project pipelines.
Coal heavyweight Peabody Energy fell US$1.68 to US$21.07. Other coal companies followed suit, including Cliffs Natural Resources, Consol Energy, and Alpha Natural Resources.
The fertilizer sector declined after rebounding in recent weeks, with leader Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan falling US$8.43 to US$65.79, and smaller rivals Agrium and Intrepid Potash also losing ground.
U. S. most active issues | |||||
VOLUME | WEEK | ||||
(000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | |
Alcoa* AA | 51574 | 10.13 | 8.95 | 9.23 | -0.54 |
Vale* RIO | 46267 | 12.53 | 11.06 | 11.34 | -0.64 |
CoeurdAlene*CDE | 44799 | 0.97 | 0.79 | 0.89 | -0.09 |
Freeport McMo*FCX | 34263 | 23.84 | 20.61 | 21.32 | -2.00 |
Barrick Gold* ABX | 28212 | 34.96 | 31.67 | 32.61 | -0.70 |
Golden Star* GSS | 27429 | 1.05 | 0.53 | 0.88 | -0.17 |
Silver Wheatn* SLW | 24025 | 6.10 | 5.06 | 5.55 | + 0.15 |
Goldcorp* GG | 23352 | 30.20 | 27.30 | 27.93 | -0.52 |
PotashCSask*POT | 21239 | 73.55 | 64.88 | 65.79 | – 8.43 |
Hecla Mining* HL | 18333 | 2.43 | 2.09 | 2.25 | 0.00 |
U. S. greatest percentage change | ||||||
VOLUME | WEEK | |||||
(000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
Argentex Mng* | AGXM | 1368 | 0.11 | 0.07 | 0.11 | + 57.1 |
Tombstone Exp* | TMBXF | 2599 | 0.14 | 0.09 | 0.14 | + 55.5 |
NWT Uranium* | NWURF | 102 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 0.03 | + 50.0 |
Radius Gold* | RDUFF | 22 | 0.10 | 0.06 | 0.10 | + 42.8 |
Pac Rim Minin* | PMU | 696 | 0.15 | 0.11 | 0.15 | + 15.3 |
Seabridge Gld* | SA | 1923 | 15.72 | 11.72 | 14.42 | + 13.9 |
Paramount Gld* | PZG | 87 | 0.45 | 0.36 | 0.42 | + 13.5 |
Allied Nevada* | ANV | 259 | 4.90 | 4.15 | 4.90 | + 11.8 |
Lihir Gold* | LIHR | 880 | 20.25 | 18.53 | 18.82 | + 8.5 |
America West* | AWSR | 80 | 0.28 | 0.20 | 0.28 | + 7.6 |
Douglas Lk Ml* | DLKM | 558 | 0.56 | 0.29 | 0.31 | -44.6 |
Canarc Res* | CRCUF | 22 | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.03 | -40.0 |
Cornerstone C* | CTNXF | 43 | 0.06 | 0.02 | 0.02 | -33.3 |
Silver Dragon* | SDRG | 186 | 0.12 | 0.08 | 0.08 | -33.3 |
Fronteer Dev* | FRG | 1920 | 2.65 | 1.70 | 1.78 | -29.0 |
US Antimony* | UAMY | 136 | 0.28 | 0.18 | 0.18 | -28.0 |
Contintl Mnls* | KMKCF | 257 | 0.31 | 0.20 | 0.21 | -27.5 |
Samex Mng* | SMXMF | 62 | 0.18 | 0.11 | 0.11 | -26.6 |
Minera Andes* | MNEAF | 320 | 0.45 | 0.35 | 0.37 | -26.0 |
Uranium Star* | URST | 198 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 0.03 | -25.0 |
U. S. greatest value change | |||
WEEK | |||
VOLUME | CLOSE | CHANGE | |
Royal Gold* RGLD | 2290694 | 45.01 | + 2.99 |
Seabridge Gld* SA | 1923165 | 14.42 | + 1.77 |
Lihir Gold* LIHR | 879846 | 18.82 | + 1.48 |
Randgold Res* GOLD | 2811813 | 41.36 | + 1.20 |
Agnico-Eagle* AEM | 10576462 | 44.69 | + 1.02 |
AngloGold Ash* AU | 5649590 | 25.17 | + 0.70 |
Buenaventura* BVN | 3256559 | 18.47 | + 0.67 |
Allied Nevada* ANV | 258700 | 4.90 | + 0.52 |
Kinross Gold* KGC | 17942042 | 16.62 | + 0.28 |
Silver Wheatn* SLW | 24025092 | 5.55 | + 0.15 |
Rio Tinto* RTP | 2844018 | 79.62 | -9.77 |
Potash C Sask* POT | 21239230 | 65.79 | -8.43 |
Mosaic* MOS | 11574811 | 31.09 | -3 .66 |
Cliffs Nat Rs* CLF | 5016081 | 23.57 | -3.53 |
Agrium* AGU | 1217600 | 28.96 | -3.23 |
CONSOL Energy* CNX | 8014769 | 25.81 | -3.22 |
Intrepid Pots* IPI | 836700 | 17.41 | -2.80 |
Alpha Nat Res* ANR | 6149131 | 15.76 | -2.64 |
Freeport McMo* FCX | 34262836 | 21.32 | -2.00 |
Peabody Enrgy* BTU | 13129331 | 21.07 | -1.68 |
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