The period ended Oct. 19 saw the broad market acclerate its decline of the previous week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Index tumbling 179.56 points to 9,897.62 and the S&P 500 index slipping another 18.61 points to 1,103.23.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold nosedived US$5.18, or 13%, to US$34.90 as copper prices pulled back sharply and the miner reported smaller-than-expected third-quarter earnings. Quarterly earnings fell to US$17.1 million, or US10 per share, from US$47.4 million a year earlier, while revenue shrank 5% to US$600.6 million. Freeport’s share of quarterly sales fell to 262 million lbs. copper and 350,000 oz. gold from 345 million lbs. and and 763,500 oz., respectively, a year earlier. Grasberg’s huge pit suffered a major landslide in December 2003, and operating and financial results continue to be hampered by efforts to restore safe access to the pit’s higher-grade areas.
Harmony Gold Mining created quite a splash by launching a hostile, all-share takeover bid for fellow South African miner Gold Fields, which is twice Harmony’s size. The offer, which represented a 29% premium on Gold Fields’ shares, requires the cancellation of a merger between Iamgold and Gold Fields’ non-southern African assets. Over the period, Harmony dropped US$1.83 to US$11.53, Gold Fields rose US35 to US$14.30, and Iamgold fell US86 to US$7.44.
The American Stock Exchange made headlines by launching an index called the “Amex Gold Miners Index” under the ticker symbol gdm. The index covers 36 well-traded gold and silver companies with market caps greater than US$100 million. The Amex also began trading options on Southern Peru Copper and Silver Standard Resources.
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