US markets slip between Christmas and New Year’s

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 25% and the S&P 500 nearly 20% in 2017. But the shortened trading week between Christmas and New Year’s saw both moving in the opposite direction, with the Dow slipping 0.14% to 24,719.22, and the S&P 500 down 0.36% to 2,673.61. Spot gold finished the year at US$1,302.80 per oz., up 13% from US$1,151.85 per oz. at the end of 2016.

Rio Tinto jumped US$1.84 to US$52.93 per share. The company said it had completed a US$1.5 billion buy-back of shares announced in February and August of 2017, and said it would start a further US$1.93 billion on-market buy-back to be completed before Dec. 31, 2018. Rio Tinto also noted that cash returns to shareholders totaled US$8.2 billion in 2017 — or US$4.2 billion of dividends and US$4 billion of share buy-backs.

Eldorado Gold rose 6.7% or US$0.09 to US$1.43 per share on news of changes to its board of directors. The company appointed economic geologist and former industry analyst George Albino as independent chairman and said it won’t be replacing recent retirements, “which will make for a leaner and more concentrated board,” made up of eight directors, seven of whom are independent. Eldorado also said it has reduced total and individual director compensation “in keeping with peer group considerations.”

Yamana Gold shares were up US$0.13 to US$3.12. The company announced just before Christmas that it was selling the Canadian exploration assets of the Canadian Malartic Corporation (CMC), including the Kirkland Lake and Hammond Reef gold projects, to Agnico Eagle Mines, for US$162.5 million in cash. CMC is a corporation 50-50 owned and operated by Agnico and Yamana. The deal does not affect the Canadian Malartic mine and related properties, including Odyssey, East Malartic, Midway and East Amphi, and is scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2018. Yamana also said it is “advancing on several other monetization initiatives as part of ongoing strategic and technical reviews of its asset portfolio.” In addition, the company confirmed that its Cerro Moro project in Argentina remains on budget and on schedule for start-up in early 2018.