NYSE rises June 12-16 after US Fed pauses interest rate hikes

Stocks in New York gained during the June 12-16 trading week after the United States Federal Reserve held off raising interest rates for the first time in more than a year. The decision followed signs of a slowing economy and 4% inflation, its lowest in more than two years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 422.34 points or 1.2% to 34,299.12 and the S&P 500 rose 110.73 points or 2.6% over the week to 4,298.86.

Brazil-focused Ero Copper was the best performer, gaining 14% to US$20.75 per share after reporting 2.08% nickel equivalent among new drill results for targets at Caraíba in the eastern state of Bahia.

BMO Capital Markets expects more substantial results near year-end after more drilling at Caraíba’s Umburana nickel system, mining analyst Jackie Przybylowski wrote in a note on June 9.

“Ero expects to delineate a larger number of open pittable and underground mineable nickel deposits in time,” Przybylowski said. “We expect a bigger release in ‘the great reveal’ later this year circa November.”

Vancouver-based Ero is also developing the US$305 million Tucumã copper project in the northeastern state of Pará. It aims to double the company’s copper output by 2025.

Hudbay Minerals followed with a 10% gain to US$5.18 after shareholders on June 14 approved the US$439-million acquisition of Copper Mountain Mining.

The new larger Hudbay, to be Canada’s third-largest copper producer behind Teck Resources and Vale, plans output to reach 53,000 tonnes this year.

Its mines will include Copper Mountain 300 km east of Vancouver, Snow Lake 700 km north of Winnipeg and Constancia in Peru. The acquisition will save Hudbay US$30 million in operating costs, it said.

Hudbay also has three large-scale development projects, Mason in Nevada, Copper World in Arizona and Llaguen in Peru.

Shares in Johannesburg-based DRDGold increased by 9% to US$12.48 after the company, which is 50.1% owned by Sibanye-Stillwater, raised gold output by 4% and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization by 54% in the first quarter compared with the previous three months.

The company, which recovers gold from tailings, said it is debt-free and is favourably considering its final cash dividend of the year in August.

DRDGold operates two subsidiaries. Ergo, east of Johannesburg, has a processing capacity of 1.8 million tonnes per month. Far West Gold Recoveries, on the other side of the city, can process 600,000 tonnes per month. Gold is extracted from surface sand and slime through a high-pressure water system.