U.S. Markets January 9 – 12

Resource equities on the United States markets bounced back a bit in the holiday-shortened reporting period Jan. 9-12 after a devastating first week of 2007. While the broader market moved cautiously back into record country, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 132.59 points, or 1%, to 12,556.08, the gold and base metal stocks mostly beat that pace.

Gold bullion recovered some of early January’s losses, rebounding US$10.25 in the London fix to finish the period at US$619.75. That gain, about 1.7%, was reflected exactly in the unhedged gold producers, the Amex Gold Bugs Index rising 5.33 points to 320.12. The broader gold sector, represented by the Philadelphia Exchange’s XAU, rose 1.4%.

Both Newmont Mining and AngloGold Ashanti outpaced the main body of the golds; Newmont was US97 better at US$43.21, and Anglo improved US$1.07 to finish at US$45.47.

There were few losing stocks in the gold sector; Harmony Gold was off US56 at US$13.48 and in the mid-tiers Minas Buenaventura slid US43 to US$25.78 and Hecla Mining US56 to US$6.80.

The bounce among the base metal producers was stronger, following big gains for the industrial metals on the London Metal Exchange. Spot copper was up more than 5% (at US$5,805.50 per tonne) and nickel up almost 10% (to US$36,500, or US$16.56 per lb.).

The big copper producers all made gains, Rio Tinto adding US$5.10 to US$206.43, BHP Billiton rising US$2.19 to US$39.52, and Southern Copper picking up US$2.11 to finish at US$55.26. Companhia Vale do Rio Doce was the most actively traded of the big base metal miners, with 15.8 million shares moving; it rose US49 to US$29.70. Alcoa, which was up US$2.31 at US$30.79, was the most active of the aluminum producers, with 28.4 million shares changing hands.

The gap between Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold and Phelps Dodge narrowed a little, Freeport rising US$3.07 to US$55.01 and PD only US74 to US$119.90. Freeport’s bid for PD now represents about US$124.86, or US$4.96 above PD’s price in the market.

Coal producer Alpha Natural Resources was down US32 at US$13.20 following an accident at its Cucumber mine in West Virginia; a roof bolter and helper were killed by a rock fall, and an investigation is under way.

U.S. greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	28	0.15	0.08	0.15	+87.5
HE-5 Res*	HRRN	62	0.39	0.29	0.38	+31.0
Pine Valley M*	PVMCF	340	0.044	0.031	0.038	+26.6
Birch Mountn*	BMD	707	2.55	1.95	2.51	+20.1
Westmoreland*	WLB	43	22.60	18.80	22.49	+18.5
New Jersey Mg*	NJMC	155	0.59	0.42	0.59	+18.0
Apollo Gold*	AGT	423	0.53	0.44	0.52	+15.5
Mines Managem*	MGN	80	5.30	4.51	5.24	+14.4
Mountain Prov*	MDM	43	3.65	2.97	3.49	+13.6
Corriente Rs*	ETQ	374	3.42	2.80	3.40	+13.3
Gemco Mnls*	GMML	15	0.15	0.10	0.12	-30.6
Diamond Discv*	DMDD	623	0.007	0.006	0.006	-25.0
Golden Eagle*	MYNG	15593	0.009	0.005	0.007	-22.2
Geocom Res*	GOCM	79	0.28	0.222	0.231	-17.5
Sao Luis Mng*	SAOL	472	0.65	0.44	0.51	-16.3
Starfield Res*	SRFDF	108	0.26	0.235	0.239	-12.7
Trend Mng*	TRDM	281	0.109	0.098	0.099	-12.3
Colombia Gldf*	CGDF	1461	1.28	1.08	1.11	-11.2
Contintl Mnls*	KMKCF	276	1.65	1.45	1.50	-9.0
Azco Mng*	AZMN	550	1.28	1.01	1.15	-8.0

U.S. greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Potash C Sask*	POT	2312500	145.12	+5.32
Rio Tinto*	RTP	923100	206.43	+5.10
Alcan*	AL	6157500	49.88	+4.88
NACCO Ind*	NC	35900	139.38	+4.78
Westmoreland*	WLB	43300	22.49	+3.52
Freeport McMo*	FCX	14163400	55.01	+3.07
Cabot Corp*	CBT	848900	46.38	+2.33
Alcoa*	AA	28429800	30.79	+2.31
BHP Billi-BHP*	BHP	15486400	39.52	+2.19
Mosaic*	MOS	4412800	22.10	+2.14
Soc Quim&M Ch*	SQM	93800	127.86	-0.67
Banro Res*	BAA	40600	11.61	-0.63
Harmony Gold*	HMY	8114800	13.48	-0.56
Hecla Mining*	HL	5843500	6.80	-0.56
Buenaventura*	BVN	1539800	25.78	-0.43
ASA (Bermuda)*	ASA	193100	59.71	-0.39
APEX Silver*	SIL	1173300	13.45	-0.37
Northern Dyn*	NAK	123900	7.47	-0.32
Alpha Nat Res*	ANR	2814800	13.20	-0.32
Gold Reserve*	GRZ	389900	3.94	-0.22

U.S. most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Alcoa*	AA	28430	31.17	28.09	30.79	+2.31
CVRD*	RIO	15784	29.75	27.06	29.70	+0.49
Golden Eagle*	MYNG	15593	0.009	0.005	0.007	-0.002
BHP Billi-BHP*	BHP	15486	39.72	36.99	39.52	+2.19
Goldcorp*	GG	14344	26.24	24.79	26.19	+	0.31
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	14222	40.18	37.15	40.00	+2.03
Freeport McMo*	FCX	14163	55.48	51.01	55.01	+3.07
Coeur d Alene*	CDE	13997	4.49	4.07	4.45	-0.02
Silverado*	SLGLF	13815	0.084	0.067	0.083	+0.005
Barrick Gold*	ABX	12266	29.54	28.69	29.25	-0.11