U.S. markets, June 24-28

U.S. markets rebounded from fears in the previous period that the Fed would taper off quantitative easing. The markets stabilized after the Fed said that QE would not slow down any time soon. This brought the S&P 500 Index up 18 points to 1,614.96 points, the Dow Jones Industrial Average 114 points to 14,909.60 points, and the Nasdaq 108 points to 3,403.25 points for the period. 

Also supporting U.S. markets was strength in Chinese stock markets after policy-makers in the country said there was ample liquidity in the system.

BHP Billiton says going the remote-control mining route will cut costs and bolster productivity at its Pilbara iron ore division in Australia. The remote operation centre will be located in Perth, and cut contractor spending while using more in-house staff to tele-control driverless trucks. It is all part of the company’s push to produce 220 million tonnes of iron ore per year. BHP operates seven iron ore mines in Pilbara. Its shares were off US$2.01 to US$51.27 for the period. 

Staying with the cost-cutting theme, Buenaventura says it will cost roughly half of its previous estimate to build the Chucapaca gold project in southern Peru. It now says the mine will cost US$1 billion to build. Gold Fields has a 51% stake in the mine while Buenaventura has the remaining 49%. Only last year the two companies said the open-pit gold mine was unfeasible, but since then they have adopted an aggressive cost-cutting approach and will release a new feasibility study by year-end. Buenaventura shares were off US$1.22 to US$14.76 for the period. 

Optimism for Randgold Resources failed to translate into immediate gains for the gold miner. The company’s shares were off US$2.71 to US$64 despite being upgraded by Citigroup and having a “buy” rating restated by Canaccord Genuity and Deutsche Bank. Citigroup raised its rating to “neutral” from “sell,” arguing that the company has an improved cost profile and lower debt relative to its peers. The report also said the company’s ambitious new Kibali gold mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could be a game changer. 

U.S. most active issues

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		Volume
Company	Symbol	(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
Barrick Gold*	ABX	147523	17.21	14.67	15.74	–	1.15
Freeport McMo*	FCX	113955	27.79	26.37	27.61	–	0.55
Alcoa*	AA	98819	7.97	7.71	7.82	–	0.16
Alpha Nat Res*	ANR	83275	5.42	4.82	5.24	–	0.25
Kinross Gold*	KGC	77610	5.15	4.53	5.1	+	0.07
Newmont Mng*	NEM	68096	30.25	27.07	29.95	–	0.1
Arch Coal*	ACI	57942	3.9	3.47	3.78	–	0.13
Goldcorp*	GG	54960	24.8	22.22	24.73	+	0.14
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	45584	15.8	14.35	14.64	–	1.36
Silver Wheatn*	SLW	45072	20	17.75	19.67	–	0.7

U.S. greatest percentage change

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		Volume
Company	Symbol	(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
Lake Shore Gd*	LSG	2299	0.31	0.2	0.31	+	75.4
Intl Tower Hi*	THM	1057	0.65	0.44	0.65	+	27.4
Brigus Gold*	BRD	627	0.51	0.43	0.51	+	24
Silvercorp Mt*	SVM	1342	2.83	2.36	2.82	+	17.2
Ur-Energy*	URG	6826	1.34	1.11	1.34	+	16.5
Molycorp*	MCP	37304	6.2	5.04	6.2	+	15
Tanz Roy Exp*	TRX	2839	2.73	2.14	2.7	+	12.9
Avino Silver*	ASM	212	0.9	0.71	0.9	+	10.8
Fortuna Silvr*	FSM	1392	3.35	2.67	3.31	+	9.6
Exeter Res*	XRA	267	0.79	0.62	0.71	+	9.2
Minco Gold*	MGH	818	0.25	0.15	0.15	–	38
Crosshair Eny*	CXZ	235	0.03	0.02	0.02	–	32.2
Mines Managem*	MGN	310	0.7	0.53	0.53	–	22.6
Loncor Res*	LON	13	0.19	0.17	0.17	–	20.9
Walter Energy*	WLT	11443	12.38	9.88	10.4	–	17.9
Quaterra Res*	QMM	94	0.12	0.08	0.09	–	17.4
McEwen Mng*	MUX	39838	1.95	1.63	1.68	–	17.2
Cardero Res*	CDY	403	0.14	0.1	0.11	–	15.3
PolyMet Mng*	PLM	2709	0.88	0.7	0.7	–	14.6
Avalon Rare M*	AVL	2010	0.6	0.5	0.53	–	13.1

U.S. greatest value change

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Company	Symbol	Change	Close	Change
Franco-Nevada*	FNV	3658720	35.77	+	2.65
Agrium*	AGU	1607734	86.96	+	1.45
Compass Mnls*	CMP	347575	84.53	+	1.42
MDU Res*	MDU	3702820	25.91	+	1.32
Alliance Rs P*	ARLP	394272	70.63	+	0.83
Molycorp*	MCP	37304119	6.2	+	0.81
Agnico-Eagle*	AEM	12178120	27.54	+	0.66
Pan Am Silver*	PAAS	16908476	11.64	+	0.52
Coeur Mng*	CDE	10395558	13.3	+	0.51
Soc Quim&M Ch*	SQM	5151265	40.4	+	0.45
Royal Gold*	RGLD	7539775	42.08	–	4.11
Mosaic*	MOS	19675210	53.81	–	2.88
Randgold Res*	GOLD	6955021	64	–	2.71
Consol Energy*	CNX	20741787	27.1	–	2.69
Walter Energy*	WLT	11442533	10.4	–	2.28
BHP Billi-BBL*	BBL	4943300	51.27	–	2.01
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	45583642	14.64	–	1.36
BHP Billi-BHP*	BHP	12296152	57.66	–	1.26
Buenaventura*	BVN	14290031	14.76	–	1.22
Barrick Gold*	ABX	1.48E+08	15.74	–	1.15