Merck rattles Dow

The period ended Oct. 5 was a turbulent one for U.S. markets, with the Dow Jones Industrial Index rising 100.28 points to 10,177.68 and the S&P 500 index easing up by 24.42 points to 1,134.48.

Particularly astonishing was the meltdown in shares of Dow-component Merck, which plunged US$10.69 to US$34.23; the pharmaceutical giant saw US$23 billion wiped off its market capitalization after it pulled its popular Vioxx arthritis medication off the market, owing to unanticipated harmful side effects.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold dropped US$1.71 to US$40.24 as it was hit by the first of four days of rotating strikes at its Atlantic Copper smelter in Huelva, Spain. Union members at the plant are protesting Freeport’s plan to cut about 75 jobs, which would entail laying off 17 people too young to qualify for early retirement.

Gold Fields and Iamgold took another step toward completing their merger by signing a deal whereby Iamgold has agreed to issue 351.7 million shares to Gold Fields; as a result, Gold Fields will own 70% of Iamgold. The merger consolidates Iamgold with Gold Fields’ non-South African assets under a Canadian-domiciled, but Denver-based, company named Gold Fields International. Gold Fields rose US79 to US$13.93 while Iamgold jumped US54 to US$8.32.

One of the top-performing juniors was Vancouver-based Apolo Gold (not to be confused with Denver-based Apollo Gold), which shot up US5 to US17 after announcing the appointment of Tim Scott as vice-president of operations for Apolo’s gold and silver project in Sumatra, Indonesia. Scott was previously president of Barrick Gold Corporation Indonesia and Kalimantan Gold.