U.S. stocks end in positive territory, Jan. 9-13

U.S. equities managed to post small gains despite economic data showing retail sales increased at their slowest pace in seven months in December and the downgrading by Standard & Poor’s of the credit ratings of nine euro zone countries. S&P cut the ratings of Italy, Spain, Portugal and Cyprus by two notches and France, Austria, Malta, Slovakia, and Slovenia by one notch. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 62.14 points or 0.50% to close at 12,422.06, while the S&P 500 index edged up 11.28 points or 0.88% to finish at 1,289.09. The Nasdaq Composite index climbed 36.45 points or 1.36% to 2,710.67. New York spot gold rose US$23.10 to close the week  at US$1,639.70 per oz., while the Philadelphia Gold and Silver index was up 5.74 points or 3.10% at 192.91.

Shares of Royal Gold took a tumble, falling US$1.65 to US$67.92 per share. On Jan. 10 the company said it had agreed to sell 4 million common shares to Goldman, Sachs & Co. and will use the proceeds to acquire additional royalty or similar interests and to repay debt, some of which was incurred in its recent acquisition of the Mt. Milligan project.

Patriot Coal fell US$1.15 to US$7.87 per share after it announced that weakening export demand for its metallurgical coal means that it will have to temporarily shut down two production units and three contractor-operated mines in West Virginia. Arch Coal also fell US$1.23 to US$14.13 per share on no news.

Shares of Hecla Mining lost 16.4% or 93¢ to close the week at US$4.72 per share. The silver producer cut its 2012 production forecast to 7 million ounces of silver from 9.5 million ounces silver. The company said it must close a shaft at its Lucky Friday mine to remove built-up material and does not expect to resume production there until early 2013.

On the positive side of the ledger, Agrium shares jumped US$7.33 to close at US$77.31 apiece. Early in the trading week BMO Nesbitt Burns analyst Joel Jackson forecast potash prices will go up 5-10% year-on-year in 2012 and upgraded Agrium to “outperform” from “market perform” with a price target of US$98 per share. Jackson also confirmed his “outperform” rating of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan with a price target of US$61 per share. Potash Corp. gained US$2.97 during the Jan. 9-13 trading week, closing at US$44.74 per share.