U.S. stocks on solid ground, Mar. 26-30

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 131.31 points or 1.0% to 13,212.04 during the Mar. 26-30 trading week, while the S&P 500 index edged 11.36 or 0.81% higher to 1,408.47. The Dow and the S&P 500 closed out their best first quarter since 1998, mainly on improving economic data, with the Dow up 8.1% and the S&P 500 12%. The Philadelphia Gold and Silver index dropped 1.64 points or 0.93% to 175.46.

Rio Tinto advanced US$1.85 to US$55.59 per share in the wake of news Mar. 27 that it has begun a strategic review of its diamond business that includes options to divest its diamond assets. The miner operates three diamond mines with a 60% interest in Diavik in Canada, a 100% interest in Argyle in Australia and a 78% interest in Murowa in Zimbabwe. Rio Tinto also has a 100% stake in Blunder, an advanced diamonds project in India. It also announced Mar. 28 that it had received a binding offer for its specialty alumina business from HIG European Capital Partners. The company said the potential sale is line in with its strategy of streamlining its aluminum group with the divestment of non-core assets. Rio Tinto’s specialty alumina business has three production sites in France and one in Germany.

The first national standards on carbon emissions for new power plants in the U.S. pushed down the shares of coal miners. The new regulations only apply to future power stations and a one-year grace period will be given for plants currently under construction. Under the rules power plants will not be allowed to emit more than 454 kilograms of carbon pollution per megawatt hour. (Standard coal plants emit more than 800 kg an hour.) Alliance Resource Partners plunged US$6.63 to US$60.10, Peabody Energy fell US$1.23 to US$28.96, Arch Coal dropped 95¢ to US$10.71 and Alpha Natural Resources slid  77¢ to US$15.21.

The shares of Walter Energy took an extra hit when the company announced Mar. 26 that its first-quarter results will be disappointing due to flat sales volume and weaker coal prices. It said it plans to decrease production from its Maple underground coal mine in West Virginia by about 35% due to market conditions. Shares of Walter Energy ended the week down US$3.51 at US$59.21.

Randgold Resources was down US$3.34 to US$87.98 despite reporting that operations at its three projects in Mali are running normally after a Mar. 22 coup by a military group in the West African nation.