US markets climb, Aug. 2-Aug. 6

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 273.04 points or 0.78% to 35,208.51 during the Aug. 2-6 trading week and the S&P 500 rose 41.26 points or 0.94% to 4,436.52. Spot gold fell US$50.70 to US$1,763.10 per ounce.

Intrepid Potash posted the biggest gain — climbing US$4.00 per share to US$34.30 per share. The company reported second-quarter net income of US$19.5 million, or US$1.46 per share, a gross margin of US$14.2 million (compared to a gross deficit of US$0.6 million in the second quarter of 2020), and cash flow from operations of US$32.3 million. The company ended the second quarter with US$53 million in cash and equivalents.

Shares of Consol Energy rose US$1.34 to US$22.35. The company reported second quarter net income of US$4.2 million (including US$20.4 million of unrealized mark-to-market losses related to commodity derivatives) and free cash flow of US$54.4 million. Shipments in its coal division amounted to 5.9 million tons, of which 55% went into the export market and 47% into non-power generation applications. It ended the quarter with US$146.7 million in cash and equivalents.

Mosaic’s shares gained 26¢ to US$31.49. The company reported second quarter net income of US$437 million, or US$1.14 per share, a gross margin of US$752 million, and US$1 billion in cash flow from operations (US$718 million after subtracting capital expenditures). The company expects average realized prices for phosphate in the third quarter will be US$90 to US$100 per tonne higher than prices realized in the second quarter and US$25 to US$35 per tonne higher for potash, and reported that its third quarter phosphate and potash segment sales were about 90% committed and priced. Net debt as of June 30 totaled US$3 billion, down US$1.1 billion from the year ago period, and included unrestricted cash and equivalents of US$1.4 billion. It also noted that in August it will retire US$450 million in long-term debt that matures in November 2021.

AngloGold Ashanti fell US$3.84 to US$16.21 per share. The company reported second quarter production of 613,000 oz. at a total cash cost of US$1,006 per oz., compared with 693,000 oz. gold and total cash costs of US$767 per oz. in the second quarter of 2020. All-in sustaining costs were US$1,380 per oz. in the second quarter, up from US$985 per oz. in the year-earlier quarter. AngloGold generated US$67 million in free cash flow during the second quarter compared to an outflow of US$92 million in the first quarter of 2021. The company said its second quarter performance was affected by the pandemic, increased costs, lower realized grades across certain operations and the suspension of underground mining at its Obuasi mine following a fatal accident on May 18.