U. S. equity markets were up during the shortened Dec.16-18 trading session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 40 points, or 0.5%, to 8,605; the S&P 500 index added 17 points, or 1.9%, to 885; and the Nasdaq rose 44 points, or 2.9%, to 1,552. Precious metal issues were mixed after staging a robust rally during the previous trading session, with the Amex Gold Bugs index adding 1 point, or 0.4%, to 275, and the Philadelphia Gold and Silver index dropping 2 points, or 1.6%, to 111.
The most important economic policy move during the session came from the U. S. Federal Reserve, which decided on an ultra-low federal funds rate, targeting a range of 0-0.25%.
National Bank economist Stfane Marion points out that the interest rate on a 30-year U. S. mortgage has now fallen to 5.28%. This is providing an economic stimulus, and has the potential to help reduce the housing inventory glut stateside.
Another positive signal for the market were moves by the White House to provide an aid package to help the Big Three U. S. automakers. After the trading session, the government came through with US$17.4 billion in short-term loans for the three.
The potash and fertilizer sector continued to rebound, with leader Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan gaining US$4.97 to US$74.22. Smaller producers Mosaic Co. and Intrepid Potash likewise posted gains, as did Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile.
NovaGold Resources continued its ascent from the last trading session, gaining US52¢ to US$1.86. The reason for the gain became clear after the trading session, when the company announced that it has managed to extend the maturity date of a bridge loan.
Gold explorer Banro, which has four projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, fell US30¢ to US98¢ on continued armed conflict between rebels and government forces in the country despite peace talks between the two sides.
The silver sector was mostly up, led by Apex Silver, which rose US56¢ to US$1.30. In November, Apex agreed to sell its 65% stake in the San Cristobal silver-zinc mine in Bolivia to minority partner Sumitomo for US$22.5 million.
U. S. most active issues | |||||
VOLUME | WEEK | ||||
(000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | |
Vale* RIO | 117303 | 13.65 | 11.75 | 11.98 | -0.01 |
Freeport McMo*FCX | 71783 | 26.68 | 22.60 | 23.32 | + 0.81 |
Alcoa* AA | 66576 | 10.92 | 9.72 | 9.77 | -0.14 |
Barrick Gold* ABX | 63878 | 37.84 | 32.31 | 33.31 | + 0.39 |
CoeurdAlene* CDE | 55336 | 1.00 | 0.67 | 0.98 | + 0.28 |
Silver Wheatn* SLW | 55286 | 6.98 | 5.05 | 5.40 | + 0.33 |
Goldcorp* GG | 50060 | 33.20 | 27.72 | 28.45 | -0.89 |
PotashCSask*POT | 43992 | 82.99 | 72.24 | 74.22 | + 4.97 |
Newmont Mng* NEM | 34417 | 41.79 | 36.77 | 37.20 | -0.50 |
Kinross Gold* KGC | 32524 | 19.07 | 16.04 | 16.34 | -0.40 |
U. S. greatest percentage change | ||||||
VOLUME | WEEK | |||||
(000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
APEX Silver* | SIL | 10129 | 1.67 | 0.75 | 1.30 | + 75.6 |
Silver Dragon* | SDRG | 618 | 0.12 | 0.08 | 0.12 | + 71.4 |
Firstgold* | FGOC | 768 | 0.25 | 0.14 | 0.25 | + 56.2 |
Cornerstone C* | CTNXF | 25 | 0.06 | 0.03 | 0.03 | + 50.0 |
Colombia Gldf* | CGDF | 888 | 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.03 | + 50.0 |
Uranium Ener* | UEC | 1137 | 0.44 | 0.22 | 0.32 | + 45.4 |
Coeur d Alene* | CDE | 55336 | 1.00 | 0.67 | 0.98 | + 40.0 |
NovaGold Res* | NG | 22065 | 2.95 | 1.39 | 1.86 | + 38.8 |
Crosshair E&M* | CXZ | 472 | 0.15 | 0.08 | 0.11 | + 37.5 |
Central Sun M* | SMC | 2008 | 0.18 | 0.11 | 0.15 | + 36.3 |
Beeston Ent* | BESE | 891 | 0.06 | 0.02 | 0.02 | -71.4 |
World Vent* | WVNTF | 55 | 0.03 | 0.01 | 0.01 | -66.6 |
Industrl Mnls* | IDSM | 145 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.01 | -50.0 |
Brookmount Ex* | BMXI | 22 | 0.09 | 0.03 | 0.05 | -44.4 |
Argentex Mng* | AGXM | 1382 | 0.11 | 0.07 | 0.07 | -30.0 |
Augusta Res* | AZC | 379 | 0.77 | 0.57 | 0.57 | -26.9 |
Zoro Mng* | ZORO | 174 | 0.05 | 0.03 | 0.03 | -25.0 |
Banro Res* | BAA | 244 | 1.42 | 0.95 | 0.98 | -23.4 |
Petaquilla Mn* | PTQMF | 478 | 0.40 | 0.28 | 0.30 | -23.0 |
Caledonia Mng* | CALVF | 1050 | 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.04 | -20.0 |
U. S. greatest value change | ||||
WEEK | ||||
VOLUME | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
Potash C Sask* | POT | 43992158 | 74.22 | + 4.97 |
Mosaic* | MOS | 24440502 | 34.75 | + 3.29 |
Royal Gold* | RGLD | 3759648 | 42.02 | + 2.41 |
Cliffs Nat Rs* | CLF | 12159408 | 27.10 | + 1.98 |
Seabridge Gld* | SA | 1065471 | 12.65 | + 1.88 |
AlumCpChina* | ACH | 1107600 | 15.27 | + 1.68 |
Intrepid Pots* | IPI | 1273700 | 20.21 | + 1.54 |
Agrium* | AGU | 2381900 | 32.19 | + 1.42 |
Agnico-Eagle* | AEM | 18175455 | 43.67 | + 1.36 |
Silver Std Re* | SSRI | 4342058 | 13.68 | + 1.09 |
Randgold Res* | GOLD | 4462135 | 40.16 | -2.84 |
Alpha Nat Res* | ANR | 6832782 | 18.40 | -2.71 |
AngloGold Ash* | AU | 10933420 | 24.47 | -1.82 |
OM Group* | OMG | 2385104 | 18.74 | -1.52 |
Peabody Enrgy* | BTU | 19972160 | 22.75 | -1.30 |
Cabot Corp* | CBT | 3152024 | 14.45 | -1.18 |
Gold Fields* | GFI | 23610327 | 8.56 | -1.08 |
MDU Res* | MDU | 5124057 | 20.81 | -1.03 |
Harmony Gold* | HMY | 10935119 | 9.14 | -1.03 |
Goldcorp* | GG | 50060426 | 28.45 | -0.89 |
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