Market awaits election outcome

Denver — The Dow Jones industrial average fell 271.12 points, or 2.5%, to 10,681.06 for the period ended Nov. 14, owing to uncertainty and confusion surrounding the U.S. presidential election.

However, spot gold failed to respond to the turmoil, remaining at US$264.90 per oz. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. As a result, mining issues continued their slide: AngloGold slumped 74 to a new low of US$13.38; New York Stock Exchange-listed Newmont Mining dipped 69 to US$13.12; Homestake Mining was off 12 to a new low of US$3.69 on a heavy volume of trading; Nasdaq-listed Harmony Gold Mining slipped 13 to US$3.62; Meridian Gold was down 37 to US$4.75; and Compania de Minas Buenaventura slid 87 to a new low of US$10.88. Bucking the trend was South Africa’s Gold Fields, which picked up 9 to close at US$2.78.

Class B shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold fell 38 to a new low of US$7.06, as the Comex spot copper price held firm at US83 per lb. Southern Peru Copper dropped $1.06 to US$12.41, while Australia’s Broken Hill Proprietary slipped 87 to US$19.38.

Silver prices eroded, sending Apex Silver Mines down 43 to US$8.88; Coeur d’Alene Mines dipped 6 to a new low of US94 after posting a third-quarter loss. Hecla Mining followed suit, sinking 6 to US50.

British mining house Rio Tinto plunged $3.06 to US$61.94, Anglo American declined $1.63 to US$54.12, while De Beers Consolidated Mines advanced 18 to US$29.06. Platinum-miner Stillwater Mining picked up 75 to US$29.20.