The New Year got off to a good start when, on the first trading day of 2010, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index registered their highest closes in 15 months and the Nasdaq ended at a 16-month high. For the Dec. 22-Jan. 4 reporting period as a whole, the DJIA rose 119.03 points to finish at 10,583.96, while the S&P 500 index climbed 14.97 points to 1,132.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 55.75 points to close at 2,308.42.
News on Jan. 4 that the manufacturing sector in the United States grew at its quickest pace in almost four years in December, the fifth month in a row of expansion, buoyed U.S. equities — in particular energy and base metal stocks. Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were the top two value gainers in the Dec. 22-Jan. 4 reporting period, rising US$19.94 to US$224.11 and US$7.04 to US$79.57, respectively. Alcoa was the most actively traded stock; the aluminum giant closed the reporting period with an advance of US92¢ per share to US$16.65.
On the energy front, Consol Energy bolted US$4.53 per share to US$52.95 on news that its board had approved a 2010 capital budget of US$1 billion, almost half of which has been designated to strengthen the company’s natural gas production capabilities. About US$400 million or 40% of the coal miner’s budget has been earmarked for CNX Gas Corp. to boost exploration in Marcellus Shale, a geological formation that extends from West Virginia to New York state. Consol Energy is a major shareholder in CNX Gas. An additional $500 million in the budget will be funneled into the Pittsburgh-based company’s coal programs.
The New York spot price for gold advanced US$37.70 per oz. in the Dec. 22-Jan. 4 reporting period, closing at US$1,120.90 per oz. The Amex Gold Bugs index gained 21.78 points to 444.82, while the Philadelphia Gold and Silver index mounted 8.07 points to 174.02. Barrick Gold was the second most actively traded stock, climbing US$1.43 to US$40.39. In terms of value, ASA(Bermuda), a closed-end, non-diversified investment company investing in precious metals, platinum group metals and diamonds, jumped US$6.36 to US$79.56 per share.
| U.S. most active issues | ||||
| VOLUME | WEEK | |||
| (000s) HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | |
| Alcoa* AA | 165893 16.89 | 15.51 | 16.65 | + 0.92 |
| Barrick Gold* ABX | 67553 41.18 | 38.41 | 40.39 | + 1.43 |
| Hecla Mining* HL | 62332 6.66 | 5.96 | 6.47 | + 0.23 |
| Goldspring* GSPG | 60426 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.00 |
| Freeport McMo*FCX | 56398 83.60 | 77.60 | 83.46 | + 5.50 |
| Goldcorp* GG | 46065 41.13 | 37.80 | 40.68 | + 2.40 |
| Newmont Mng* NEM | 39271 49.18 | 46.34 | 48.45 | + 1.47 |
| Potash C Sask* POT | 37290 113.35 | 106.36 | 112.20 | + 3.48 |
| Silverado* SLGLF | 34913 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.00 |
| Silver Wheatn* SLW | 34281 15.80 | 14.65 | 15.79 | + 0.89 |
| U.S. greatest percentage change | ||||||
| VOLUME | WEEK | |||||
| (000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| HuntMountain* | HNTM | 13 | 0.15 | 0.15 | 0.15 | +150.0 |
| Industrl Mnls* | IDSM | 357 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.02 | +100.0 |
| Samex Mng* | SMXMF | 1848 | 0.50 | 0.28 | 0.50 | + 66.6 |
| America West* | AWSR | 630 | 0.15 | 0.08 | 0.14 | + 40.0 |
| Quaterra Res* | QMM | 551 | 2.28 | 1.55 | 2.17 | + 34.7 |
| Cornerstone C* | CTNXF | 50 | 0.17 | 0.12 | 0.16 | + 33.3 |
| Cream Mnrls* | CRMXF | 11 | 0.09 | 0.06 | 0.08 | + 33.3 |
| PlatinumGpM* | PLG | 335 | 2.29 | 1.62 | 2.19 | + 32.7 |
| Geovic Mng* | GVCM | 1109 | 0.82 | 0.56 | 0.79 | + 31.6 |
| North Am Pall* | PAL | 12715 | 3.81 | 2.76 | 3.70 | + 30.2 |
| Buckingham Ex* | BUKX | 12 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | -75.0 |
| Tornado Gold* | TOGI | 366 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.01 | -50.0 |
| Global Gold* | GBGD | 200 | 0.15 | 0.13 | 0.14 | -22.2 |
| Elray Res* | ELRA | 455 | 0.25 | 0.12 | 0.18 | -21.7 |
| Nevsun Res* | NSU | 6815 | 3.09 | 2.28 | 2.47 | -17.9 |
| NWT Uranium* | NWURF | 260 | 0.13 | 0.10 | 0.11 | -15.3 |
| Constittn Mng* | CMIN | 2972 | 1.65 | 1.32 | 1.51 | -8.4 |
| Radius Gold* | RDUFF | 103 | 0.21 | 0.17 | 0.19 | -5.0 |
| Patriot Gold* | PGOL | 123 | 0.22 | 0.20 | 0.20 | -4.7 |
| Apollo Gold* | AGT | 4083 | 0.50 | 0.44 | 0.45 | -4.2 |
| U.S. greatest value change | |||
| WEEK | |||
| VOLUME | CLOSE | CHANGE | |
| Rio Tinto* RTP | 2959160 | 224.11 | + 19.94 |
| BHP Billi-BHP* BHP | 15188043 | 79.57 | + 7.04 |
| ASA (Bermuda)* ASA | 338132 | 79.56 | + 6.36 |
| BHP Billi-BBL* BBL | 5274972 | 66.90 | + 5.64 |
| Freeport McMo* FCX | 56398399 | 83.46 | + 5.50 |
| CONSOL Energy* CNX | 17271826 | 52.95 | + 4.53 |
| Agrium* AGU | 2906700 | 62.85 | + 3.48 |
| Potash C Sask* POT | 37290447 | 112.20 | + 3.48 |
| Mosaic* MOS | 25421837 | 61.71 | + 3.40 |
| Buenaventura* BVN | 6431430 | 34.95 | + 3.40 |
| Nevsun Res* NSU | 6814657 | 2.47 | -0.54 |
| Constittn Mng* CMIN | 2972074 | 1.51 | -0.14 |
| Mines Managem* MGN | 603634 | 2.89 | -0.12 |
| Elray Res* ELRA | 455382 | 0.18 | -0.05 |
| Taseko Mines* TGB | 12735543 | 4.30 | -0.05 |
| Global Gold* GBGD | 200 050 |
0.14 | -0.04 |
| Buckingham Ex* BUKX | 11999 | 0.01 | -0.03 |
| Uranium Res* URRE | 3137127 | 0.81 | -0.02 |
| NWT Uranium* NWURF | 260104 | 0.11 | -0.02 |
| Apollo Gold* AGT | 4083046 | 0.45 | -0.02 |
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