Holidays prove good for gold

Denver — The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 108.07 points, or 1%, to close at 10,692.44, during the holiday-shortened report period ended Dec. 26.

Spot gold jumped to US$274.10 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, invigorating most mining issues. Newmont Mining gained $1.25 to US$17.94 on a heavy volume of trading, while AngloGold added 82 to close at US$14.88. Nasdaq-listed Gold Fields inched up 28 to US$3.66 and Harmony Gold Mining advanced 28 to US$4.78 after inking two new acquisitions in the previous week. Homestake Mining rose 19 to US$4.50, whereas Peru’s Compania de Minas Buenaventura edged up 38 to US$13.88. Ghana’s Ashanti Goldfields failed to respond, falling 44 to US$1.81.

Phelps Dodge tacked on $1.69 to close at US$56.94 as Comex copper sunk back to US86 per lb. Class A and B shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold climbed 68 and 82 to close at US$8.56 and US$8.94, respectively. Rio Tinto crept up 37 to US$69.75.

American Stock Exchange-listed Stillwater Mining popped back after a hard week, climbing $4.08 to US$37.27, as palladium prices stayed above US$900 per oz. De Beers Consolidated Mines added 75 to close at US$27.06, while Anglo American picked up 88 to close at US$54.38. Apex Silver Mines missed the holiday cheer, dropping 25 to US$8.56, and Coeur d’Alene Mines slumped 12 to US$1.

Among the juniors, Royal Gold gained 38 to close at US$2.94 after securing US$10 million in funding. Chief Consolidated Mining sunk 13 to US$1.62.