MINING MARKETS & INVESTMENT NEWS – U.S. MARKETS — Dow stable after mid-week dip

The Dow Jones industrial average dipped more than 200 points during the report period Jan. 20-26, though it recovered most of the loss in the last two days. The average finished down 30.64 points, or 0.3%, to close at 9,324.58 points.

Mining issues fared badly amid still-slumping metal prices and growing concern over the Brazilian financial crisis.

Phelps Dodge, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, continued to spiral downward, losing $3.06 for the week to close at US$45.25. The copper producer has lost more than US$8 per share after reporting a fourth-quarter loss of US$41.8 million (or 72 cents per share).

Most other copper producers were also down: Asarco shed $1.38 to hit a 12-month low of US$14.81; Southern Peru Copper closed down 69 cents at US$9.12; and class B shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold slumped $1.06 to US$10.19, while the company’s class A shares fell only 44 cents to US$10.12.

Gold companies were down as well, as represented by American Stock Exchange-listed Getchell Gold, which lost $2.25 to close at US$25.75, New York-listed Homestake Mining, which fell 81 cents to US$9.69, and Newmont Mining, which slipped 75 cents to US$17.94.

South African mining house Anglogold was off US$1.38 to US$20.12, while Ghana-based Ashanti Goldfields lost $1.25 to close at US$8.50.

American-listed Apex Silver Mines shed a buck to close at US$7.75, and Sunshine Mining & Refining lost nearly 20% of its value, shedding 13 cents to close at US56 cents, despite forecasting increased production for 1999.