Concerns over a U.S.-China trade war mounted after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested imposing another $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.71% to 23,932.76 and the S&P 500 Index dropped 1.38% to 2,604.47. Gold finished at US$1,333.40 per oz., up US$8.70, or 0.63%.
Arch Coal’s shares jumped US53¢ to US$92.41, after it amended its credit agreement to lower the interest rate on its senior-secured term loan facility. The new interest rate for its $300-million term loan facility is the London interbank offered rate, plus 275 basis points — reflecting a 50 basis point reduction from its previous level, and marking one of the lowest rates in the coal sector.
A positive arbitration ruling for Eldorado Gold in Greece boosted the company’s shares 16.2% to US98¢. The arbitration panel rejected a motion by the Greek state that the technical study for the Madem-Lakko metallurgy plant for treating concentrates from Olympias and Skouries — which was submitted in December 2014 — was in breach of provisions. George Burns, Eldorado Gold’s CEO, said in a press release that the decision “provides a foundation to allow us to advance dialogue with the Greek government in order to define a mutually agreeable and clear path forward for our Kassandra investments. We look to the Greek state to fulfill its obligations under the transfer contract, including issuing the outstanding permits for the Skouries project.” He also said the company had recently submitted an updated technical study for Skouries that lowers the project’s footprint by 40%.
Rio Tinto’s shares fell US98¢ to US$50.55. On March 27, the company announced an agreement to sell its 80% interest in the Kestrel coal mine in Queensland, Australia, to a consortium made up of private equity manager EMR Capital and Indonesian-listed coal company PT Adaro Energy for $2.25 billion. Last year the underground mine produced 4.25 million tonnes of hard coking coal and 0.84 million tonnes of thermal coal. The agreement was the miner’s third coal deal in March, and marks Rio Tinto as the first major to abandon the coal sector. The Kestrel sale follows Rio Tinto’s $1.7-billion sale of its Hail Creek mine, also in Australia, to Glencore, and the $200-million sale of an undeveloped Australian coal project to Whitehaven Coal. TNM
Be the first to comment on "US markets end lower, April 2-6"