U.S. Markets May 29 – June 4

Buoyed by favourable employment and industrial production figures, stock markets in the United States resumed their upward climb in the report period May 29-June 4. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 23.45 points, or 1.5% of value, to finish at 1,539.18 on June 4, setting record highs on three trading days.

A bounce in the gold bullion price was also good for the gold equities, which rebounded after a couple of tough weeks. The unhedged stocks on the Amex Gold Bugs Index rose 6.2% in aggregate, while the broader Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index was up 4.5%.

Shaking off a recent poor price performance, Newmont Gold rose US$2.31 to US$41.51, leading the big gold producers higher. AngloGold Ashanti rose US$1.21 to US$43.47 and Gold Fields US12 to US$17.35, while virtually all the interlisted Canadian golds were higher; Agnico-Eagle Mines led that field with a US$3.95 jump to US$37.93.

There were strong gains from the mid-tier golds, too, as Minas Buenaventura advanced US$1.96 to US$34.46, Randgold Resources picked up US$1.09 to finish at US$24.18, and Hecla Mining rose US47 to close at US$8.20.

The industrial mineral producers all made very strong gains. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan was up US$8.98 at US$73.88, Mosaic added US$3.63 for a close of US$36.60, and Sociedad Quimica y Minera tacked on US$11.58, ending the period at US$169.58.

Alcoa again led the base metal producers in volume, with 48 million shares moving, and added US9 to close at US$40.99. Its takeover quarry Alcan was a dime better at US$85.10, with the Times of India reporting that Alcan and Indian metal producer Sterlite Industries (part of London-listed Vedanta Resources) were preparing a bid for aluminum producer Hindalco Industries as deal-repellent for Alcoa’s bid.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold was the busiest of the other base metal producers, seeing 45 million shares change hands and rising US$4.69 to US$79.30. Companhia Vale do Rio Doce rose US$3.72 to US$47.10.

U.S. greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
Evolving Gold*	EVOGF	178	0.46	0.35	0.46	+	35.2
Northw Min Vt*	NWTMF	1074	0.819	0.625	0.81	+	21.8
Golden Eagle*	MYNG	21867	0.029	0.02	0.028	+	21.7
Caledonia Mng*	CALVF	2023	0.158	0.129	0.153	+	17.6
Idaho Gen Mn*	GMO	1926	6.39	5.16	6.38	+	16.4
Radius Gold*	RDUFF	467	0.65	0.524	0.617	+	14.6
Apollo Gold*	AGT	1721	0.46	0.38	0.46	+	14.4
Potash C Sask*	POT	15843	206.00	66.76	73.88	+	13.8
Metallica Res*	MRB	509	5.11	4.53	5.05	+	13.4
Cusac Gold Mn*	CUSIF	147	0.17	0.145	0.17	+	13.3
Diamond Discv*	DMDD	580	0.007	0.005	0.005	–	28.5
Homeland Pr M*	HPMEF	54	0.38	0.31	0.32	–	20.0
Peru Copper*	CUP	13878	5.76	4.76	5.40	–	16.2
World Vent*	WVNTF	14	0.19	0.16	0.16	–	15.7
Sparrowtech R*	SPMC	250	0.07	0.04	0.06	–	14.2
Geocom Res*	GOCM	292	0.34	0.26	0.32	–	10.8
Starfield Res*	SRFDF	5951	1.41	1.044	1.18	–	10.6
Colombia Gldf*	CGDF	3023	1.48	1.30	1.32	–	9.5
Corriente Rs*	ETQ	744	3.50	3.18	3.324	–	9.4
Halo Res*	HLOSF	127	0.445	0.371	0.401	–	7.8

U.S. greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE		CHANGE
Soc Quim&M Ch*	SQM	226800	169.58	+	11.58
Cleveland-Cli*	CLF	14017410	88.09	+	9.96
Potash C Sask*	POT	15842756	73.88	+	8.98
Southern Copp*	PCU	11687126	92.64	+	6.08
Yanzhou Coal*	YZC	503300	65.51	+	5.61
Freeport McMo*	FCX	45360426	79.30	+	4.69
Agnico-Eagle*	AEM	9241107	37.93	+	3.95
CVRD*	RIO	40112564	47.10	+	3.72
BHP Billi-BHP*	BHP	10412348	54.59	+	3.64
Mosaic*	MOS	17564171	36.60	+	3.63
Peru Copper*	CUP	13877673	5.40	–	1.05
Arch Coal*	ACI	14554551	40.95	–	0.46
Corriente Rs*	ETQ	744200	3.324	–	0.346
Vista Gold*	VGZ	997500	5.49	–	0.24
Mountain Prov*	MDM	95000	5.22	–	0.23
Arizona Star*	AZS	40400	11.85	–	0.23
New Gold*	NGD	82900	7.08	–	0.22
Harmony Gold*	HMY	7244779	14.83	–	0.20
Allied Nevada*	ANV	294900	4.31	–	0.19
Fronteer Dev*	FRG	2159330	12.07	–	0.18

U.S. most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
Alcoa*	AA	48046	41.55	39.65	40.99	+	0.09
Freeport McMo*	FCX	45360	80.00	74.47	79.30	+	4.69
Newmont Mng*	NEM	41448	41.74	38.83	41.51	+	2.31
Barrick Gold*	ABX	40544	29.60	28.38	29.21	+	0.46
CVRD*	RIO	40113	47.10	42.40	47.10	+	3.72
Goldcorp*	GG	37124	24.78	22.36	24.47	+	1.61
Coeur d Alene*	CDE	33512	3.79	3.46	3.75	+	0.19
Kinross Gold*	KGC	25425	13.94	12.53	13.55	+	0.68
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	23594	55.76	53.25	54.73	+	0.77
StreetTr Gold*	GLD	21876	66.76	64.60	66.54	+	1.60