Market news: U.S. Markets

Pessimism about negotiations to avert the fiscal cliff drove U.S. equity markets down, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipping 0.32%, or 4.49 points, to close at 1,413.58, while the S&P 500 Index lost 0.15%, or 20.12 points, to finish at 13,135.01. The Nasdaq was down 0.23%, or 6.71 points, at 2,971.33.

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold rebounded after plunging 31% the previous week due to the company’s unexpected acquisition of assets in the oil and gas sector. Freeport climbed US$2.08 to US$33.78, and was the week’s most actively traded stock.

Molycorp’s replacement of president and CEO Mark Smith with interim CEO Constantine Karayannopoulos, vice-chair and former head of Neo Material, sent the company’s shares up US$1.11 to US$10.05. According to some analysts, Smith lost credibility after the rare earths company failed to disclose a probe by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission when it reported its third-quarter earnings and held a conference call on Nov. 8. Molycorp disclosed the SEC investigation in a press release on Nov. 9. 

Improving sentiment in the Chinese steel sector has helped lift iron ore prices, and with it, the fortunes of Cliffs Natural Resources, which ended the week US$4.45, or 15% higher, at US$33.96 per share. Iron ore prices have hit US$131 per tonne, up from US$118 per tonne at the beginning of December, as Chinese traders accumulate positions, New York investment bank Dahlman Rose writes in a note to clients.

Peabody Energy provided guidance on first-quarter targets, and in return got an US80¢-per-share boost to US$27.68. The company said that first-quarter 2013 results could be impacted by a variety of factors, including a 10% increase in Australian unit costs; lower realized metallurgical coal pricing compared to the fourth quarter of 2012; a 2-million-ton decline in U.S. sales, based on market demand; a 5% decrease in average realized pricing due to the expiration of higher-priced contracts; and higher depreciation, depletion and amortization expenses, as recently completed capital projects fully begin operations and production increases from higher-cost reserves acquired in recent years.

U.S. most active issues, December 10 – 14

U.S. greatest percentage change, December 10 – 14

U.S. greatest value change, December 10 – 14