U.S. markets decline Apr. 17-21 as recession concerns beat earnings  

U.S. markets fell slightly as investors weighed strong corporate earnings and declining inflation against the fall of the index of leading economic indicators to its lowest point in more than two years. Rising jobless claims also signaled economic activity is about to cool.  

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 77.51 points or 0.2% to 33,808.96 and the S&P 500 dropped 4.12 points or 0.1% over the week to 4,133.52.  

Gatos Silver fell nearly 14% over the week to US$6.20 per share after it said on Apr. 17 it was delaying its annual report for last year, and the Toronto Stock Exchange said three days later it was reviewing the company’s listing on the index. It gave Gatos until Aug. 18 to comply.  

The company said it’s working to complete the annual report and restate earnings for 2021 and three quarters from last year. The delay concerns net deferred tax assets and liabilities as well as income from affiliates, it said. Gatos controls 70% of the Los Gatos silver and zinc joint venture in southern Chihuahua State, Mexico, where it has the Cerro Los Gatos mine.  

With economists still expecting a mild recession this year, some large commodity producers fell during the week. Mining giant Vale was down nearly 11% to US$14.27 a share and Cleveland-Cliffs, North America’s largest flat-rolled steel producer, dropped 8.5% to US$15.88.  

The Ohio-based supplier of steel to carmakers said this month it expects to report first-quarter revenue at US$5.2 billion — 13% less than the US$6 billion during the same period a year ago. The new numbers are due on Monday after markets close. Still, it said earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization should be US$200 million compared with US$123 million a year ago.  

Freeport-McMoRan fell 8% on the week to US$39.66 per share after it reported Apr. 20 that first quarter copper and gold output fell 4.4% and 2.4%, respectively, compared with the same period a year ago. It produced 965 million lb. copper and 405,000 oz. gold in this year’s three months to Mar. 31.  

The company reported copper sales of 832 million lb., 8% lower than a January estimate of 900 million lb., mainly because of reduced operations at its Grasberg mine in Indonesia. Freeport also said its copper production net cash costs were nearly a third higher at $1.33 per lb. than a year earlier.  

Sibanye-Stillwater gained almost 5% on the week to close at US$9.84 per share. The diversified miner’s stock recovered after a decline following the deaths of four workers at its Burnstone gold mine east of Johannesburg on Apr. 13. On Monday, the company reported net profit of US$1.2 billion for last year after producing 671,000 oz. of gold, 1.7 million oz. of platinum group metals in South Africa and 421,000 oz. in the U.S.