New claims for U.S. unemployment benefits climbed to a nine-month high during the Aug. 16-20 trading week, fuelling uncertainty about the overall economic outlook and sending gold prices higher. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 0.87% or 89.53 points to finish at 10,213.62, while the S&P 500 index lost 0.70% or 7.56 points to close at 1,071.69. Spot gold prices rose 1% during the period, closing in New York on Aug. 20 at US$1,228 per oz. after reaching a high of US$1,237.15 per oz. on Aug. 19, the highest price since July 1. The Philadelphia Gold and Silver index gained 3.3% or 5.73 points to finish at 178.13.
BHP Billiton’s surprise US$39-billion (US$130-per-share) all-cash bid for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan and speculation that other suitors will start coming out of the woodwork, dominated the headlines and pushed up the company’s shares by US$38.33 or 34.4% to US$149.67 apiece.
Potash Corp.’s board is urging shareholders to reject BHP’s bid and said it was in talks with several other companies for a more attractive offer. Of those, Bloomberg News has reported that China’s Sinochem Group and Brazil’s Vale have made initial inquiries. The buzz about Potash Corp. sent prices of other potash producers up too, including Mosaic, which advanced US$5.44 to US$56.64 per share (the second-biggest value gainer). Mosaic was the third most active stock.
Randgold Resources posted the third-largest value gain of the week, adding US$4.75 to reach US$90.63 apiece. Earlier this month, the African-focused company reported a profit increase of 52% for the quarter ended June 30 over the previous quarter, and a 92% increase over the year-ago quarter. Its profits for the six months were up 88% year-on-year. Randgold raised its production guidance at the Tongon gold mine in Cote d’Ivoire by about 10%, because commissioning of the plant is ahead of schedule. It also said it hopes to bring forward by six months to mid-2011 the start of building its Kibali gold project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
On the negative side of the ledger were BHP Billiton, down US$3.84 to US$67.44 per share, and SinoCoking Coal, which posted the largest drop of the week, with a decline of US$4.35 per share to US$12.33.
U.S. most active issues | ||||
VOLUME | WEEK | |||
(000s) HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | |
Potash C Sask* POT | 105354 149.87 | 110.57 | 149.67 | + 38.33 |
Alcoa* AA | 99928 11.07 | 10.45 | 10.57 | -0.07 |
Mosaic* MOS | 49583 58.46 | 50.81 | 56.64 | + 5.44 |
Freeport McMo* FCX | 42660 74.30 | 70.26 | 71.37 | + 1.30 |
Barrick Gold* ABX | 30312 45.75 | 43.20 | 44.78 | + 1.86 |
Kinross Gold* KGC | 26599 15.86 | 14.86 | 15.48 | + 0.32 |
Cliffs Nat Rs* CLF | 25973 65.00 | 58.30 | 61.28 | + 2.79 |
Newmont Mng* NEM | 24149 60.23 | 57.02 | 58.02 | + 1.30 |
Goldcorp* GG | 23901 43.04 | 39.91 | 41.89 | + 2.25 |
Hecla Mining* HL | 22671 5.21 | 4.88 | 4.95 | + 0.11 |
U.S. greatest percentage change | |||||
VOLUME | WEEK | ||||
(000s) HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
Potash C Sask* | POT | 105354 149.87 | 110.57 | 149.67 | + 34.4 |
Vista Gold* | VGZ | 5261 2.00 | 1.50 | 1.95 | + 32.6 |
Legend Intl H* | LGDI | 1220 0.77 | 0.60 | 0.76 | + 26.6 |
Am Engy Field* | AEFI | 117 0.64 | 0.48 | 0.62 | + 24.0 |
DouglasLkMl* | DLKM | 355 0.13 | 0.10 | 0.12 | + 20.0 |
Quaterra Res* | QMM | 208 1.54 | 1.24 | 1.46 | + 18.7 |
Uranium Res* | URRE | 1738 0.62 | 0.50 | 0.58 | + 18.3 |
Radius Gold* | RDUFF | 25 0.40 | 0.34 | 0.40 | + 17.6 |
Fronteer Gold* | FRG | 4599 7.56 | 6.26 | 7.37 | + 16.4 |
New Jersey Mg* | NJMC | 31 0.23 | 0.19 | 0.23 | + 15.0 |
Apolo Gold* | APLL | 208 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.01 | -50.0 |
Affinity Gold* | AFYG | 994 0.19 | 0.05 | 0.11 | -35.2 |
Elray Res* | ELRA | 3179 0.06 | 0.04 | 0.04 | -33.3 |
SinoCoking Cl* | SCOK | 946 16.99 | 10.01 | 12.33 | -26.0 |
Li3 Energy* | LIEG | 625 0.38 | 0.26 | 0.28 | -24.3 |
America West* | AWSR | 224 0.10 | 0.06 | 0.07 | -22.2 |
Lake Vict Mng* | LVCA | 281 0.30 | 0.24 | 0.26 | -16.1 |
Pac Rim Minin* | PMU | 1540 0.21 | 0.16 | 0.17 | -15.0 |
Cream Mnrls* | CRMXF | 91 0.09 | 0.06 | 0.06 | -14.2 |
Pediment Gold* | PEZGF | 70 1.24 | 1.10 | 1.10 | -12.0 |
U.S. greatest value change | |||
WEEK | |||
VOLUME | CLOSE | CHANGE | |
Potash C Sask* POT | 105354208 | 149.67 | + 38.33 |
Mosaic* MOS | 49583373 | 56.64 | + 5.44 |
Randgold Res* GOLD | 2586896 | 90.63 | + 4.75 |
Soc Quim&M Ch* SQM | 4145476 | 43.12 | + 3.69 |
AllianceRsP* ARLP | 500939 | 53.50 | + 3.25 |
Royal Gold* RGLD | 2639799 | 48.89 | + 3.09 |
Seabridge Gld* SA | 2194319 | 28.36 | + 3.06 |
Cliffs Nat Rs* CLF | 25972885 | 61.28 | + 2.79 |
Allied Nevada* ANV | 783235 | 22.00 | + 2.51 |
Goldcorp* GG | 23901203 | 41.89 | + 2.25 |
SinoCoking Cl* SCOK | 945776 | 12.33 | -4.35 |
BHP Billi-BBL* BBL | 10935433 | 56.65 | -3.89 |
BHP Billi-BHP* BHP | 22234490 | 67.44 | -3.84 |
Consol Energy* CNX | 17914533 | 34.11 | -2.21 |
Puda Coal* PUDA | 152240 | 8.34 | -0.93 |
Harmony Gold* HMY | 13138462 | 10.06 | -0.83 |
Peabody Enrgy* BTU | 16004461 | 44.92 | -0.71 |
MDU Res* MDU | 2484315 | 18.41 | -0.60 |
Westmoreland* WLB | 69523 | 9.42 | -0.35 |
US Energy* USEG | 729859 | 4.29 | -0.31 |
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