Gold weathers latest auction

Denver — The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 10.54 points, or 0.01%, to 10,872.97 for the report period ended May 15, despite a 0.5% interest rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

However, spot gold closed on an up-note at US$268.10 per oz. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, after fending off the Bank of England’s latest 20-tonne gold auction.

Newmont Mining led the golds, jumping $2.04 to US$20.81 on heavy trading volume; AngloGold followed by climbing $1.47 to US$19.40; Homestake Mining gained 32 to close at US$6.65; Peru’s Compania de Minas Buenaventura rose 83 to US$16.26; Nasdaq-listed Harmony Gold Mining advanced 65 to US$5.48; Durban Roodepoort Deeps picked up 15 to US$1.18; and Glamis Gold added 28 to close at US$2.40. Bucking the trend was Meridian Gold, which slipped 36 to US$7.61.

Despite a slip in Comex copper to US75 per lb., Class A and B shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold surged 33 and 53, respectively, to close at US$13.03 and US$14.50. Phelps Dodge climbed $1.19 to US$46.06, while Australia’s BHP edged up 48 to US$22.65. Anglo American advanced 85 to US$16.35, after completing a 4-for-1 stock split on May 8, and De Beers Consolidated Mines also moved up, by $1.53 to arrive at US$44.27.

Apex Silver Mines closed up 79 to US$10.46 after receiving environmental permits for the San Cristobal project in southern Bolivia. Coeur d’Alene Mines rose 22 to US$1.48, while Hecla Mining gained 19 to close at US96.