US coals fire up

TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE

U.S. stock markets were quiet during the holiday-shortened trading period June 28-July 1, with little motion in the indices. The S&P 500 index was up 3.75 points, at 1,194.44, and the relative gain in the Dow Jones industrial average was even smaller.

What excitement there was, however, seemed to go disproportionately to the miners, especially those in the energy business. Coal miner CONSOL Energy posted the biggest gain of the mining stocks, rising US$2.68 to US$55.73, Chinese coal producer Yanzhou Coal tacked on US$1.46 to close at US$63.21, and trust units of Fording Canadian Coal were US$2 better at US$93.60.

The U.S. base metal miners were generally higher, including Phelps Dodge, which was US$1.23 better at US$93.24, and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, which rose US$1.19 to US$37.93. That didn’t hold for some of the offshore giants: BHP Billiton rose US13 to US$27.40, but Rio Tinto was down US35 at US$122.98, and Anglo American slipped US2 to US$23.53.

Although Newmont Mining was down US15 at US$38.93, the rest of the top tier of golds did better, not least as a result of the rand’s fall to US14.66 from US15.08 during the period. AngloGold Ashanti was up US45 to US$36.09, Gold Fields US58 to US$11.41, and Harmony Gold Mining US46 to US$8.61.

That didn’t filter down to the mid-tiers: Compania de Minas Buenaventura was off US49 at US$23.06, Lihir Gold fell the same amount to US$18.43, and Randgold Resources lost a dime to close at US$14.05.

Silver producers and developers gained, though silver prices weakened to US$7.02 per oz. Apex Silver was a big gainer, adding US$1.56 to finish at US$14.15, while Coeur d’Alene Mines pulled up US13 to US$3.59, and Hecla Mining rose the same amount to US$4.59.