The 7-day period that ended July 23 was marked by relentless waves of panic selling in markets across the world. In the U.S., the S&P 500 index sank 11.4% to 797.71 points, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 9.1% to 7,702.34 points, and the Nasdaq composite fell 10.6% to 1,229.05 points.
Looking over trading data from the past five years, technicians note that the S&P 500 has now formed a perfect head-and-shoulders formation, signaling that a major reversal has occurred.
Gold stocks proved to be an unsafe haven during the turmoil, with all the U.S.-listed gold majors showing brutal declines: Newmont Mining plummeted $4.62 to US$22.48; AngloGold nosedived $6.02 to US$22.23; Gold Fields declined $2.52 to US$9.98; Ashanti Goldfields sank $1.13 to US$5; Harmony Gold sagged $1.31 to US$15.42; and Compania de Minas Buenaventura fell $2.85 to US$22.61 in advance of reporting a 37% second- quarter earnings rise.
Silver and silver stocks took an even bigger hit, with Coeur d’Alene Mines dropping 68 to US$1.61 and Hecla Mining down a staggering $1.82 to US$3.14.
In the base metals sector, any positive earnings news was swamped by the larger tides washing through the broad markets: Alcoa plummeted $3.73 to US$23.80; Phelps Dodge dropped $4.49 to US$32, though second-quarter losses narrowed; BHP Billiton fell only a penny to US$10.31; Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold retreated $3.33 to US$12.95; Rio Tinto nosedived $2.85 to reach US$66.60; Anglo American fell $1.16 to US$14.30.
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