U.S. stock markets turned downward in the report period Sept. 22-28 amid generally gloomy news on consumer spending and durable goods orders, and on a further decline in leading economic indicators. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 1.6% at 10,077.40 and the S&P 500 index fell 1.7% to 1,110.06.
The selloff played to the strengths of the commodity sectors, though, as crude oil prices touched record highs and metal prices were generally strong. For the second week in a row, the base metal producers were the best thing on Wall Street, with all the majors posting gains. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold shot up US$3.15 to US$41.95, while Phelps Dodge added US$7.71 to finish at US$93.60 and Southern Peru Copper picked up US$3.99 for a close of US$50.19.
Offshore producers made more modest gains, possibly because a weakening U.S. dollar was seen as benefitting them less: Anglo American was only up US6 at US$24, BHP Billiton picked up US87 to ring out at US$20.69, and WMC Resources was 60 higher at US$15.30.
Over on the precious metals side, Newmont Mining was up US$1.40 at US$44.29. The big news around the biggest U.S. gold producer was the arrest of four of its employees at the Minahasa gold mine in Indonesia over allegations (which both Newmont and Indonesian environmental regulators deny) that the operation has polluted a nearby sea bay with mercury. Companhia de Minas Buenaventura was US84 higher at US$22.89, while AngloGold Ashanti added US54 to finish at US$38.44.
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