Rate cut can’t stop slide

Denver — The sudden interest rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve put a charge into the market on Jan. 3, only to see record-setting gains evaporate. The market finished the report period ended Jan. 9, down 73.6 points, or 0.7%, to 10,572.55, while spot gold on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange slipped to US$267.50 per oz.

Newmont Mining lost $1.32 to close at US$16.62, while Battle Mountain Gold stayed in step, edging down 6 to US$1.75, as shareholders approved the merger of the two. Compania de Minas Buenaventura sunk $1.44 to US$12.75, while New York Stock Exchange-listed Meridian Gold shed 69 to close at US$6.19; Glamis Gold dipped 12 to close at US$1.44. Ashanti Goldfields bucked the downward trend, climbing 38 to US$2.38, while Nasdaq-listed Harmony Gold Mining picked up 25 to close at US$4.78.

Comex copper held firm at US83 per lb., pushing Australia’s BHP up $1.12 to US$22. Class A and B shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold improved 13 and 31 to close at US$8.25 and US$8.62, respectively. Southern Peru Copper added 56 to US$13.31, while Phelps Dodge lost $$1.44 to close at US$51.50.

Anglo American jumped $3.38 to US$58, while De Beers Consolidated Mines surged $2.31 to US$28.69. Stillwater Mining jumped $2.86 to close at US$38.76 as palladium topped US$1,000 per oz. Rio Tinto climbed $4 to US$74.12.

Silver miner Coeur d’Alene Mines picked up the 12 it lost in the previous week to close at US$1.