U.S. markets post marginal gains, Oct. 15-19

Disappointing earnings from U.S. bellwethers McDonald’s and General Electric soured an already grim mood on Wall Street with Oct. 19 marking the worst day the Dow Jones Industrial Index has had since June 21. For the week the Dow managed to eke out a gain of 0.11% to finish at 13,343.51, while the S&P 500 index edged 0.3% higher to 1,433.19. The Philadelphia Gold and Silver index rose 0.49% to 185.80.

Some upbeat economic news from China helped make Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold the fourth most actively traded stock of the week and send its share US$1.04 higher to US$41.18. China’s economy grew 7.4% year-on-year in the third quarter, prompting Dong Tao, chief economist for Non-Japan Asia at Credit Suisse to claim that the Chinese economy is showing some signs of stabilization.

BHP Billiton advanced US$2.80 to US$71.14 per share. In an Oct. 17 exploration and development report the mining group said its 19 “low risk, largely brown-field projects currently in execution” are expected to deliver strong financial returns to shareholders, with the majority of the projects scheduled to reach first production before the end of the 2015 financial year. It also confirmed capital and exploration expenditure of US$22 billion in the 2013 financial year.

Rio Tinto gained US$2.31 to US$51 per share. In its third-quarter operations review the company pointed to record quarterly production at its Pilbara iron ore operation as well as higher year-on-year production of copper, bauxite, alumina and titanium dioxide. Pilbara produced 63 million tonnes in the quarter, a 5% increase over the third quarter of 2011, while total mined copper production climbed 21% year-on-year due to expected higher copper grades at Escondida and Kennecott Utah Copper, and increased ore delivered at Escondida. Bauxite and alumina production were up 13% and 20% respectively, driven in part by greater third-party demand for bauxite, greater refining capacity at Yarwun and record production at Grove. Titanium dioxide feedstock production rose 5% year-on-year while thermal coal production rose 21%.

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan slid US$1.01 to US$40.58 on news that its full-year earnings guidance will fall below the low end of the previous range of US$2.80-US$3.20 per share provided in July. The company explained that the change primarily reflects lower than forecasted potash sales volumes due to delays in new contracts with buyers in China and India. It also said it expects third-quarter earnings will be at the low-end of the US$0.70-US$0.90 per share guidance range previously provided.