NYSE gains July 24-28 as economic growth, declining inflation offset interest rate hike

U.S. markets rose moderately during the week after investors considered an interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve to be near its last in the cycle while inflation fell and economic growth remained resilient.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 231.6 points or 0.7% to 35,459.29 and the S&P 500 gained 45.89 points or 1% over the week to 4,582.23.

Hudbay Minerals topped the chart with an 8.9% gain to US$5.78 after saying July 27 that drill results may lengthen the life of its Lalor mine in Manitoba beyond 2038 and that it had more than tripled its land holdings in the same Snow Lake region of the province to 2,690 sq. km.

Step-out drilling about 500 metres northwest of Lalor intersected a series of base metal and copper-gold zones, including a high-grade copper-gold-silver zone, Hudbay said. Down-plunge drilling from Lalor indicates the alteration zone, hosting mineralization currently being mined, continues for at least 2 km to the north, it said.

The company says it’s also keen to use modern geophysics on the recently acquired Cook Lake properties where historical drilling was limited to about 275 metres deep compared with Lalor’s depth of as much as 1,500 metres. The acquisition of Rockcliff Metals also significantly expands Hudbay’s land within trucking distance of its Snow Lake processing.

Southern Copper rose 8.7% to US$85.22 after saying it was more optimistic about building a new mine in Peru, where anti-mining protests have rocked the industry.

The company said on July 28 it was making progress with communities around the US$1.4 billion Tia Maria project in the South American country’s coastal mountains. Former president Pedro Castillo opposed the project, rousing locals against it despite a licence approval in 2019.

Protests in Peru affected production from mines such as MMG’s Las Bambas, Glencore’s Antapaccay and Hudbay’s Constancia after Castillo was ousted in December. The unrest has subsided somewhat despite renewed calls for demonstrations this month. President Dina Boluarte has criticized the protests calling them a threat to democracy and stationed military units to protect industry transportation routes.

Nexa Resources added 7.6% to US$4.83 after saying on July 27 that normal operations resumed at its Atacocha San Gerardo open pit mine in Peru after local groups stopped protests and allowed access to the mine.

An estimated zinc production loss of 900,000 tonnes is expected to be recovered in the coming months while this year’s production guidance remains unchanged, it said.

Nexa, a top-five zinc producer, has three mines in Peru and two in Brazil while it ramps up the Aripuanã mine, also in Brazil.