U.S. markets buoyant, Oct. 1-5

Employment figures showing the U.S. economy added 114,000 jobs in the month of September, pushing down the unemployment rate from 8.1% to 7.8% —the lowest level since January 2009 — buoyed equities. The Dow Jones Industrial Average touched 13,661.87 on Oct. 5 — a 52-week high —and ended the week up 1.30% or 173.02 points at 13,610.15. The S&P 500 index rose 1.41% or 20.26 points to finish at 1,460.93, while the Philadelphia Gold and Silver index edged up 0.28% or 0.53 of a point to 191.53.

A positive tax ruling in Mexico sent shares of Primero Mining soaring 41.1% or US$2.15 to US$7.37 per share. Mexican tax authorities confirmed in the ruling that Primero’s Mexican subsidiary appropriately records revenue and taxes from sales under a silver purchasing agreement with Silver Wheaton at realized prices rather than spot prices effective from August 2010. Primero owns 100% of the San Dimas gold-silver mine.

Alpha Natural Resources was the most actively traded stock of the week and closed up a penny at US$6.58 per share. On Sept. 28 the metallurgical and thermal coal producer announced the pricing of 9.75% senior notes due 2018. The underwritten public offering of US$500 million should net the company about US$479.8 million after expenses. A portion of the proceeds will be used to fund the purchase of up to US$350 million of the 3.25% convertible senior notes due 2015.

Western Copper and Gold Corp. finished the week 7.8% higher at 74 cents a share after closing a private placement for 500,000 flow-through common shares at 80 cents per share raising $400,000 for exploration expenses. The Vancouver-based junior holds a 100% stake in the Casino project in the Yukon, which the company describes as the one of the world’s largest open-pittable gold, copper, silver and molybdenum deposits.

On the negative side of the ledger, Pacific Booker Minerals plunged 78.3% or US$11.95 to US$3.30 per share after the B.C. Liberal government denied an environmental assessment certificate for its wholly-owned Morrison copper-gold project, 65 km northeast of Smithers, B.C.

Mosaic Co. dropped US$2.53 a share to finish at US$55.08 after reporting first quarter fiscal 2013 earnings of US$429 million compared to US$526 million a year ago. Earnings per diluted share were US$1.01 in the quarter compared to US$1.17 last year. The year-on-year decline was largely chalked up to lower phosphate volumes and prices.

Print

 

Republish this article

Be the first to comment on "U.S. markets buoyant, Oct. 1-5"

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.


*


By continuing to browse you agree to our use of cookies. To learn more, click more information

Dear user, please be aware that we use cookies to help users navigate our website content and to help us understand how we can improve the user experience. If you have ideas for how we can improve our services, we’d love to hear from you. Click here to email us. By continuing to browse you agree to our use of cookies. Please see our Privacy & Cookie Usage Policy to learn more.

Close