U.S. markets were up, Apr. 25-29

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 304.55 points or 2.44% to close at 12,810.54, while the S&P 500 index advanced 26.23 points or 1.96% to finish at 1,363.61. The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index fell 3.57 points or 1.58% to 222.22, while the price of gold in New York closed at US$1,565.70 per oz. on Apr. 29, up from its close of US$1,507.40 per oz. on Ap5. 25. Five companies on the New York Stock Exchange reached new 52-week highs, while none sank to new 52-week lows.

Alliance Resource Partners, a diversified coal producer in the eastern United States, posted the largest gain, advancing US$5.88 to US$82.36 per share. The company reported record results for the quarter ended Mar. 31 due to strong sales and even better pricing.  Revenues reached a record US$423.3 million, a year-on-year increase of 11.2%. Earnings before interest, tax, and depreciation also reached a new record, up 19.5% to US$142.2 million, while net income jumped 27.2% to US$95.4 million. The board agreed to increase the cash distribution by 3.5% to 89¢ per unit.

The discovery of a high-grade zone at its Hasbrouck project sent shares of Allied Nevada Gold up US$2.94 to US$43.06 per share. The discovery hole returned an intercept of 160 metres grading 4.5 grams gold and 83.3 grams silver. Follow-up holes included intervals of 109 metres grading 4.8 grams gold and 87.2 grams silver and 93 metres grading 4.7 grams gold and 83.3 grams silver.

Diversified fuel producer Consol Energy was up US$2.83 to US$54.09 following news that its coal division pulled in record coal revenue of US$1.13 billion in the first quarter.  Overall the company reported net income of US$192 million or 84¢ per diluted share in the quarter ended Mar. 31, compared with US$100 million or 54¢ per diluted share in the year-ago quarter. Consol Energy also approved a regular quarterly dividend of 10¢ per share, and announced plans to expand capacity at its Baltimore Terminal by 2 million tons to 16 million tons per year.

On the negative side of the ledger, Barrick Gold plunged US$4.62 to close the week at US$51.01 per share after it announced am all-cash, $8.15-per-share bid for Equinox Minerals. If the deal goes ahead, Barrick will wind up getting roughly 80% of its revenue from gold and the rest from copper production. Currently it’s a 90-10 gold-copper revenue mix.