Finding a winner in last week’s sea of red ink was a major challenge. All sectors were down, even gold, which was a bit odd because the price of the metal actually rose about A$10 an ounce, thanks to a combination of a slightly stronger U.S. dollar gold price and a fall in the Australian dollar exchange rate. As it turned out Australian gold stocks lost quite a bit of ground taking the gold index on the ASX as a guide. This dropped by 6.7 per cent. However, it is worth noting that most of that big drop in the index was caused by weakness in the top two goldminers, Lihir (LGL) and Newcrest (NCM). Lihir plunged by A29 cents to A$2.77, as speculation continued over the sudden departure of its chief executive two weeks ago. Newcrest lost A$1.78, as it tumbled to A$31.53. Elsewhere among the gold stocks the damage was not quite as bad.
Let’s start with gold, and we’ll keep this week’s report quite quick because you’re probably in a hurry to catch a flight to Cape Town for the annual Indaba gabfest.
Off soon, and a short report might actually be a blessing, unless you like reading long lists of losing stocks. Gold’s a good place to start, because the moves there looked a bit odd. The 6.7 per cent fall in the gold index was greater than the 6.5 per cent decline in the overall metals and mining index, and roughly double the 3.8 per cent fall that afflicted the all ordinaries. And that in an environment in which the gold price was stronger! Taken together it seems that investors simply decided that after the strength gold companies have enjoyed in the past few weeks it was time for a correction, as we all wait to see clear signs of what lies ahead in 2010.
A big question. Let’s stick to some simpler. Gold prices, please.
As hinted earlier, smaller gold stocks seemed to do better than the big boys. Troy (TRY) for example, which we will probably take a look at soon, actually added A3 cents to A$2.16 over the week, and while it is down from a mid-January price of A$2.50, a small uptick on Thursday indicates that interest is returning to a company which is once again getting on with business. Another modest rise was posted by Ramelius (RMS), which announced an expanded exploration effort, and rose A1 cent to A53.5 cents. After that it was flat or down. Stocks that held their ground included Centamin (CNT) at A$2.02, Focus (FML) at A6.7 cents, Allied (ALD) at A30.5 cents, and Resolute (RSG) at A98.5 cents. Weaker companies included Silver Lake (SLR), whic lost A9.5 cents to A92.5 cents, Adamus (ADU), which was down A2 cents to A42.5 cents, Perseus, (PRU) which was down a sharp A22 cents to A$1.57, and Kingsgate (KCN), which fell A14 cents to A$9.26.
We get the picture. Lots of relatively small falls, no disasters. Let’s scurry along, iron ore next, please.
A similar picture, two rises and the rest down. Brockman (BRM) was the only well-known stock to swim against the tide, as it posted an increase of A15 cents to A$2.75 after releasing an optimistic quarterly report. Venus Resources(VNS), which comes from the same stable as one of last year’s success stories, United Minerals, added A3.5 cents to A63.5 cents, after filing a positive exploration report. After that the list looks like this: Fortescue (FMG), down A28 cents to A$4.53, Atlas (AGO), down A20 cents to A$1.94, Mt Gibson (MGX), down A18 cents to A$1.40, Grange (GRR), down A3 cents to A33.5 cents, and Gindalbie (GBG), down A12 cents to A95 cents. Territory (TTY) was also weaker, down A2.5 cents to A18.5 cents, despite reporting a return to profitability.
Base metals next, please.
Only one up, as far as can be seen. Blackthorn (BTR), which successfully introduced Glencore to the Perkoa zinc project two weeks ago, has now announced that BHP Billiton has opted to extend and expand the joint venture at its Mumbwa copper project in Zambia. That helped Blackthorn rise by A9.5 cents to A90 cents. After that the red ink prevailed. Among the copper stocks, Citadel (CGG) was down A3.5 cents to A36 cents, Sandfire (SFR) was down A5 cents to A$3.70, Equinox (EQN) was down A21 cents to A$3.73, OZ Minerals (OZL) was down A13 cents to A$1.06, and on the list goes. All nickel stocks lost ground. Mincor (MCR) fell A23 cents to A$1.64, Independence (IGO) fell A38 cents to A$4.16, and Mirabela (MBN) fell A27 cents to A$2.04. Zinc stocks, apart from Blackthorn, were all lower. Terramin (TZN) lost A5.5 cents to A76.5 cents. Perilya (PEM) fell A8.5 cents to A61.5 cents, and Ironbark (IBC), which reported encouraging results from its Citronen project in Greenland, slipped A2 cents lower to A44 cents.
Uranium, coal and any specials to finish.
We’ve saved the best for last. Three uranium stocks did rise, though two not by much. Mantra (MRU) reported excellent results from its Nyota project in Tanzania, and rose A81 cents to A$5.73, a closing price which was a shade below a 12 month high of A$5.81 reached during earlier Friday trade. The other uranium companies on the rise were Uranex (UNX), up A2.5 cents to A30.5 cents, and Manhattan (MHC), which added a lowly half a cent to A$1.53. Paladin (PDN) lost A29 cents to A$3.64, after reporting more problems at its African mines. Forte (FTE) slipped A1 cent lower to A18.5 cents, and Toro (TOE) lost A1 cent to A13.5 cents. Not much to report from coal sector, with all stocks down a few cents, and no specials of note.
Have fun at Indaba, and keep us posted, it’s the first big mining conference since the financial crisis officially ended, so a measure of the mood of the miners and bankers could be quite interesting.
Source: minesite
Senin, 01 Februari 2010
Australian market reviews during the last week
