Gold bugs were particularly exultant during the report period ended Dec. 20 as the yellow metal surged to US$355 per oz. on Dec. 19. during intra-day, European trading.
However, any belief in gold is still timid: even as it touched this 5-year high, investors bailed out of their gold mining stocks.
As a result, the U.S.-listed gold majors ended mixed over the 3-day period: Newmont Mining jumped 56 to US$28.61; AngloGold rose 38 to US$32.20; Gold Fields eased off 4 to US$13.75; Durban Deep declined 6 to US$4.05; Harmony Gold gained 80 to hit US$16.80; and Ashanti Goldfields fell 17 to US$5.49.
The U.S. silver stocks saw a similar round of profit-taking as the white metal hovered in the $4.65-per-oz. range: Coeur d’Alene Mines slipped 3 to US$1.69 and Hecla Mining rose 18 to US$4.69.
The base metal giants were virtually unchanged, as were base metal prices: Anglo American was up 30 to US$14.70; BHP Billiton slipped 1 to US$11.25; Rio Tinto advanced $1.63 to end at US$79.50; Phelps Dodge retreated 2 to US$31.80; Alcoa fell 5 to US$23.85; Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold rose 23 to US$16.35; CVRD climbed 13 to US$28.78; WMC Resources closed up 35 to US$19.20; and OM Group fell 58 to US$6.15.
The biggest news in the sector came from Grupo Mexico subsidiary Asarco, which announced deep production cuts at its Mission copper mining complex in southern Arizona. Mission will now produce only 22,000 tonnes annually, or about 15% of its capacity. Asarco is also making cuts at its copper smelter in Hayden, Ariz., and at its copper refinery in Amarillo, Tex.
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