Denver — The Dow Jones industrial average sunk 218.10 points, or 1.9%, to 11,039.14 during the report period May 23-29.
Fears of Russian gold sales brought the yellow metal rally to an abrupt halt, with spot prices plunging to US$273.80 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Mining issues suffered across the board, including: Newmont Mining, which slipped 90 to US$21.60; South Africa’s AngloGold, which lost 97 to close at US$19.05; Nasdaq-listed Gold Fields, which fell 72 to US$4.37; Harmony Gold Mining, which dipped 70 to US$5.48; Homestake Mining, which lost 61 to close at US$6.99; and Ashanti Goldfields, which dropped 20 to US$2.60.
Smaller producers felt the pain, too: mid-sized Meridian Gold fell 40 to US$8, while Glamis Gold sunk 43 to US$2.37.
Weakness late in the report period sent Comex copper down to US76 per lb., pushing Phelps Dodge down $2.11 to US$46.50, though the company laid off 80 workers at a New Mexico operation. Kennecott Utah Copper also posted production cuts, while its parent company, Rio Tinto, sunk $5.20 to US$78.90. Class A and B shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold each slipped 48 to close at US$14.24 and US$15.98, respectively. Meanwhile, BHP lost $1.22 to US$23.28, and Anglo American dropped $1.49 to close at US$16.20, sending De Beers Consolidated Mines down $2.79 to US$44.10.
Also down were Stillwater Mining, which fell $1.73 to close at US$34.17, and Coeur d’Alene Mines, which lost 41 to finish at US$1.26.
Amid the carnage, Nasdaq-listed Global Diamond Resources managed to tack on 11 to close at US25, though no explanation for the rise was offered.
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