U.S. equities remain in positive territory, Feb. 10-14

It was the second straight week of gains for U.S. stock indexes despite some soft economic data showing that industrial production in January fell 0.3%. But the good news trumped the bad, with U.S. export prices climbing 0.2% in January, lawmakers reaching a deal to extend the debt ceiling, strong trade data from China and incoming Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen’s pledge to keep interest rates low. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 both rose 2.3%, closing at 16,154.39 and 1,838.63 for their biggest weekly gains of 2014. The Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index advanced 10.6% to 101.99.

Cliffs Natural Resources posted the best performance on the S&P 500, rising US$2.34 to US$23.16 per share. The company reported better-than-expected earnings in 2013 with net income attributable to shareholders of US$414 million, or US$2.37 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of US$899 million, or US$6.32 per diluted share, in 2012.  Full-year revenues of US$5.7 billion decreased US$181 million, or 3% year-on-year, while cash flow from operations more than doubled to US$1.1 billion and net debt was reduced to US$2.7 billion. The company announced it would cut capex in 2014 by 50% to a range of US$375 million and US$425 million. In Eastern Canada the company will idle its Wabush mine and suspend the Bloom Lake mine’s phase-two expansion.

Kinross Gold was the week’s most actively traded stock, rising US40¢ to US$5.22 per share. The company reported that it beat its 2013 guidance by producing a record 2.6 million equivalent oz. gold, and cut its all-in sustaining costs to US$1,063 per oz. Full-year revenue reached $3.8 billion, compared with $4.3 billion in 2012. Adjusted net earnings reached US$321.1 million, or US28¢ per share, compared with US$886.2 million, or US78¢ per share, in 2012. Proven and probable mineral reserves at the end of 2013 were 39.7 million oz. gold, compared with 59.6 million oz. at the end of 2012. The company reported that capital expenditures in 2013 came in $140 million below its revised guidance, and would be trimmed in 2014 by more than US$585 million to US$675 million.

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