U.S. markets, April 22 – 26

Investors took comfort in the fact that unemployment claims in the U.S. fell more than expected, which helped bolster all three big indexes south of the border. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 165 points to 14,712.55, the S&P 500 Index was up 27 points to 1,582.24 and the Nasdaq was up 62 points to 3,279.26.

For the first time in a while, resource stocks had gains, with signs of life in oil, copper and gold prices benefitting miners.
Pretium Resources was one such company. The junior explorer with a key asset in B.C. had a strong run thanks to an investment from the resource branch of Liberty Mutual Insurance, which bought $40 million in Pretium equity. The company’s shares rose 20% to US$7.13. The money will go to Pretium’s Brucejack project in northern B.C., where it will complete a bulk sample and an underground drill program. Liberty will nominate one person to the company’s board of directors.

A tungsten discovery by Tanzanian Royalty Exploration in northwest Tanzania also attracted positive market attention. The company’s shares were up 14% to US$2.99 after it found up to 0.40% tungsten oxide in 23 grab samples. The samples were taken from trenches and outcrops, and the company believes the area could host tin, tungsten, wolframite and lithium. The mineralization was found in the Kyerwa tin fields of the Karagwe-Ankolean Precambrian belt around mica-rich intrusive granites.

Cliffs Natural Resources enjoyed a strong period on the back of its quarterly results. The company’s shares were up 14% to US$20.17 despite reporting that first-quarter revenues of US$1.1 billion were off 6%, compared to the same period last year. The lower revenues were driven by a 10% decrease in global iron ore sales, which contributed to a 2% decrease in cost of goods sold to US$903 million. But investors focused on its US$97-million profit, which grew when the company cut selling and general and administrative expenses by US$11 million to US$48 million, while its North American Coal division kept cash costs at just US$91 per ton.

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