U.S. markets, Nov. 4-8

U.S. stock markets were in positive territory for the fifth week in a row, buoyed by unexpectedly strong jobs data showing that employers added 204,000 non-farm jobs in October, and better-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) growth. Third-quarter GDP increased at an annual rate of 2.8%.

The good economic news was offset by worries that the U.S. Federal Reserve would scale back its US$85-billion monthly bond purchases, which sent the gold price down from over US$1,300 per oz. to US$1,299.50 per oz. at the week’s end. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.94%, or 146.23 points, to close at 15,761.78 during the trading week, and the S&P 500 Index rose 0.51%, or 8.97 points, to close at 1,770.61.

Randgold Resources’ stock price advanced US$5.20 per share to US$76.68. The company reported that a strong performance at its Loulo–Gounkoto gold complex in Mali powered the company to an 80% quarter-on-quarter profit increase for the three months ended Sept. 30, despite a 3% drop in the average gold price it received. The quarter also saw early commissioning at its giant Kibali project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Group production climbed 19% to 233,676 oz. gold, while the company cut total cash costs by 17% to US$662 per oz.

Barrick Gold was the second most actively traded stock of the week, with 122.4 million shares changing hands. In a filing with U.S. regulators, the gold miner indicated that succession plans for chairman and founder Peter Munk are in the works, and would be ready before the company’s next annual meeting. The U.S. filing was part of Barrick’s $3-billion share offering announced on Oct. 31. Barrick’s shares closed the week at US$18.22, up US21¢.

Agrium shares climbed US$4.52 to close the week at US$90.07, despite a drop in net earnings. The fertilizer giant posted consolidated net earnings of $76 million, or 52¢ per share in the quarter, down from $129 million, or 80¢ per share in the third quarter of 2012. It provided guidance for diluted earnings per share of 80¢ to $1.25 in the fourth quarter.

U.S. most active issues

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		Volume
Company	Symbol	(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
Alcoa*	AA	176495	9.97	8.78	9.06	–	0.18
Barrick Gold*	ABX	122381	18.35	17.59	18.22	+	0.21
Alpha Nat Res*	ANR	84602	8.24	7.49	7.99	+	0.56
Freeport McMo*	FCX	53703	37.51	35.6	36.58	–	0.2
Arch Coal*	ACI	49484	4.68	4.19	4.43	+	0.14
Cliffs Nat Rs*	CLF	46433	28.98	26.41	27.34		0
Newmont Mng*	NEM	41430	28.08	26.27	27.57	+	1.59
Potash C Sask*	POT	39560	32.78	31.55	32.6	+	1.2
Kinross Gold*	KGC	38679	5.07	4.76	4.93	+	0.11
Molycorp*	MCP	36782	5.09	4.61	4.85	–	0.17

U.S. greatest percentage change

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		Volume
Company	Symbol	(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
Cardero Res*	CDY	4030	0.17	0.12	0.15	+	20.6
US Energy*	USEG	1751	3.48	2.9	3.42	+	18.3
Intrepid Pots*	IPI	1863	16.56	14.04	16.17	+	13.6
Silver Std Re*	SSRI	8297	6.27	5.53	6.24	+	12.4
Avino Silver*	ASM	307	1.45	1.1	1.34	+	11.6
Exeter Res*	XRA	170	0.76	0.66	0.75	+	8.7
Walter Energy*	WLT	5854	19.5	17.11	18.62	+	8
Comstock Mng*	LODE	553	1.9	1.71	1.87	+	8
Alpha Nat Res*	ANR	84602	8.24	7.49	7.99	+	7.5
Randgold Res*	GOLD	4205	79.28	72.58	76.68	+	7.2
Golden Mnls*	AUMN	1534	0.71	0.45	0.51	–	26
Quest Rare Mn*	QRM	1310	0.81	0.57	0.61	–	22
Loncor Res*	LON	23	0.2	0.17	0.17	–	20.5
Intl Tower Hi*	THM	431	0.51	0.4	0.41	–	18.4
Oxford Res P*	OXF	33	1.67	1.31	1.34	–	13.5
Timmins Gold*	TGD	948	1.48	1.22	1.26	–	10.6
North Am Pall*	PAL	8587	0.86	0.68	0.76	–	10.5
Mines Managem*	MGN	132	0.6	0.52	0.54	–	10
Great Panther*	GPL	2143	0.83	0.74	0.75	–	9.6
Dejour Enterp*	DEJ	429	0.17	0.14	0.16	–	8.8

U.S. greatest value change

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Company	Symbol	Change	Close	Change
Randgold Res*	GOLD	4205434	76.68	+	5.2
Agrium*	AGU	1149253	90.07	+	4.52
Rio Tinto*	RIO	3260085	53.17	+	2
Intrepid Pots*	IPI	1863329	16.17	+	1.94
Mosaic*	MOS	22705689	48.01	+	1.91
BHP Billi-BBL*	BBL	2326618	63.29	+	1.74
Newmont Mng*	NEM	41430295	27.57	+	1.59
Walter Energy*	WLT	5853774	18.62	+	1.39
Potash C Sask*	POT	39560191	32.6	+	1.2
Cabot Corp*	CBT	1139950	47.62	+	0.91
US Silica Hld*	SLCA	2952035	32.22	–	2.29
Compass Mnls*	CMP	218651	73.51	–	1.7
Alliance Rs P*	ARLP	304424	74.86	–	1.33
OM Group*	OMG	998968	32.93	–	1.2
Central GoldT*	GTU	279061	45.35	–	0.92
Alamos Gold*	AGI	1063153	13.88	–	0.91
Coeur Mng*	CDE	10631550	10.96	–	0.79
Yanzhou Coal*	YZC	683920	9.75	–	0.69
Natural Rs Pt*	NRP	236877	19.99	–	0.63
ASA (Bermuda)*	ASA	296894	13.28	–	0.42