Golds up in U.S.

With gold trading once again above US$300 per oz., the U.S.-listed majors turned in a strong performance over the report period ended April 23.

Newmont Mining advanced 99 to US$29.24; AngloGold rose $2.11 to US$25.70; Gold Fields was up 83 to US$11.15; Harmony Gold shot up $1.03 to US$13.80; Ashanti Goldfields was up 17 to US$5.15; Compania de Minas Buenaventura rose $1.30 to US$27.21; and Durban Roodepoort Deep rebounded another 26 to US$3.86;

Meanwhile, Stillwater Mining pushed ahead $1.97 to US$17.85 as it reported that first-quarter earnings were almost halved to US$16.6 million, Coeur d’Alene eased up 7 to US$1.21, and Hecla Mining advanced 67 to US$2.94.

Turning to base metals, Phelps Dodge retreated $1.14 to US$36.78, disappointing investors with first-quarter results that showed a 17% decline in revenue and a deepening loss of US$14.2 million, or US18 per share.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold‘s B shares advanced 47 to US$18.21 despite posting a US$4.2-million first-quarter loss. Revenue during the period dropped US$54 million to US$393 million because of lower copper and gold production at the Grasberg mine in Indonesia.

Rio Tinto slid $2.85 to US$77 as it reported a 9% rise in iron ore production, but significant drops in copper and gold output, during the first quarter.

Among the rest of the pack: Alcoa drooped 13 to US$35.68; BHP Billiton traded down 7 to US$12.08; Anglo American rose 48 to US$16.50; Southern Peru Copper eased off 6 to US$15.04; and WMC fell 14 to US$20.56.