U.S. markets, May 20-24

For the first week since mid-April, U.S. stock indexes were dragged lower — driven down by worries that the Federal Reserve is planning to taper off its stimulus program and nagging concerns about growth in China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.33% to 15,303.10, while the S&P 500 Index lost 1.07% to finish at 1,649.60. The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index climbed 3.17% to 100.58. The New York spot price for gold ended the week 2% higher at US$1,386.30 per oz.

Shares of Agnico Eagle Mines rose US90¢ to US$28.82. The gold producer announced it was making a strategic investment in Probe Mines, which is advancing its Borden gold project in Ontario. Agnico acquired 7.5 million units of Probe Mines at a price of $1.50 per unit. Each unit is made up of one Probe share and three-quarters of a warrant. When the deal closes, Agnico Eagle will own 7.5 million shares of the junior and 5.63 million warrants, representing 9.94% of the company. If it exercises the warrants, that percentage will rise to 16.19%. In addition to Borden, Probe has a 100% interest in the Black Creek chromite deposit in northern Ontario. The investment is Agnico’s fifth in a junior so far this year.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold was the most actively traded stock of the week with 99.1 million shares changing hands, and its share price dropped US$2.28, or 6.9%, to US$30.40. The company reported early in the week that the final death toll from a tunnel collapse at a training facility at its Grasberg mining complex in Indonesia claimed the lives of 28 workers. Ten others were rescued. 

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