Denver — The Dow Jones industrial average suffered a 2.8% drop, tumbling 300.42 points to 10,290.80 for the report period ended March 13, while the Nasdaq was off 8.6%.
Spot gold on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, though up for the week to US$266.80 per oz. as a result of increased leasing rates, lost strength before Britain’s last of six 25-tonne gold auctions for the year.
Gold miners were higher, including: Newmont Mining, which climbed 88 to US$17.56 on a volume of 14 million shares; AngloGold, which rose 27 to US$16.33; Nasdaq-listed Gold Fields, which added 19 to close at US$4.25; Ghana’s Ashanti Goldfields, which advanced 18 to US$2.76; and Harmony Gold Mining, which picked up 54 to close at US$5.16. Also, mid-sized Meridian Gold vaulted 47 to US$6.99, Glamis Gold gained 14 to US$1.84, and Homestake Mining added 32 to close at US$5.92.
Comex copper sunk to US81 per lb., outweighing any gold gains for Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold. Class A and B shares were down 90 and $1.11, respectively, to US$11.88 and US$13.16. Phelps Dodge fell $2.35 to US$46.80, while BHP was off $1.10 to US$20.80. The big mining houses suffered, too, with Rio Tinto off $3.29 to US$74.50, Anglo American down 74 to US$66.88, De Beers Consolidated Mines off 69 to close at US$42.56, Australia’s WMC minus 70 to US$16.60, and platinum-miner Stillwater Mining, losing $3.08 to US$29.83.
Nasdaq-listed Royal Gold climbed 10% to US$3.06, up 37, while Crown Resources added 13 to close at US40, up 50%.
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