U.S. Markets (January 14, 2008)

More dismal news from the U.S. economy hammered equity markets in the first few trading days of the new year.

A weak currency, record-breaking crude oil prices and geopolitical uncertainty between the U.S. and Iran — not to mention a jobless rate that jumped up to 5% in December — had a lot of investors running for cover. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 437.33 points to close at 12,827.49 during the Jan. 2-7 trading session, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 52.18 points to close at 1,416.18 points.

In a week when many stocks saw red, however, gold miners were having a heyday. On the first and second trading days of the year, the price of gold outpaced its 1980 record high of US$850 per oz. Gold finished the trading session on Jan. 7 at US$862 per oz., up from its US$834.50 per oz. close on Dec. 31. The Amex Gold Bugs Index lifted 26.61 points to 435.98 and the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index gained 9.32 points to close at 182.64.

Shares of Toronto-basedBarrick Goldsoared US$5.19 to US$47.24, whileNewmont Mining climbedUS$2.69 to US$51.52 andAgnico-Eagle Mineswas up US$3.90 to US$58.53.

Goldcorp,meanwhile, picked up US$3.27 to US$37.20. The Vancouver-based company recently posted record fourth-quarter results with gold production rising 35% last year to 2.3 million oz. The company’s fourth-quarter production reached 633,000 oz. This year, the company expects to produce about 2.6 million oz. gold at a total cash cost of about US$250 per oz.

Other winners includedAngloGold Ashanti,which rose US$2.69 to US$45.50;Kinross Gold,which increased US$1.98 to US$20.38; andGold Fields,which was up US$1.53 to US$15.73.

In the energy sector,Consol Energy,a multi-energy producer of coal, gas and electricity that produces high-Btu coal and gas from reserves mainly east of the Mississippi River, sank US$7.19 to US$64.33.Peabody Energy,the world’s largest private-sector coal company, dropped US$4.65 to US$56.99 and St. Louis-Mo.-basedArch Coalslid US$4.14 to US$40.79.