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  Fresnillo and Lonmin gain as Silver and Platinum climb, Wall Street opens higher to bolster FTSE 100
Reported by Proactive Investors on Monday, 19 October 2009 (on October 19, 2009)
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Overview: the Footsie’s strong run was buoyed by the US stock market, which was in bullish mode in the morning with the Dow Jones industrial average gaining almost 1% to reclaim the 10,000 plateau as Q3 reports from Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) and publisher Gannett (NYSE: GCI) turned out to be positive with both companies making good profits during the quarter.
The FTSE 100 was up 80 points or 1.5% in late afternoon, bolstered by the mining and energy sectors, which are enjoying higher oil and metal prices, and commercial property stocks with British Land (LSE: BLND), Liberty International (LSE: LII) and Segro (LSE: STRO) switching to buying mode following an upgrade by Evolutions Securities.
Asset management firm Schroders (LSE: SDR) led the leaderboard with a 4.5% climb after launching a new hedge fund platform. Fellow hedge fund manager Man Group (LSE: EMG) also did well with a 3.3% climb. Fashion house Burberry (LSE: BRBY) also added 3%.
Aviva (LSE: AV) was the only FTSE 100 constituent to lose more than 1%. The insurer slid 1.5% after announcing an IPO (initial public offering) of its Dutch asset Delta Lloyd.
Commodities
Oil prices quickly recovered after falling slightly behind the morning levels. December Brent Crude inched higher to US$76.92/barrel, while US light, sweet crude for November delivery improved to US$78.39/barrel.
Major oil & gas stocks were mixed. Supermajors BP (LSE: BP) and Shell (LSE: RDSB) both posted gains of more than 2%, as did Petrofac (LSE: PFC). However, other FTSE 100 constituents did not fare as well. Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW) rose marginally, while BG Group (LSE: BG) and Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE) turned negative with small losses.
Midcaps fell into the same pattern. North Sea operating Dana Petroleum (LSE: DNX) added 1.3% acquiring a 23% interest in the Hyperdynamics concession offshore the Republic of Guinea in West Africa. Dragon Oil (LSE: DGO) also tacked on more than 1%, while Heritage Oil (LSE: HOIL) lost 2%.
Africa focused energy company Dominion Petroleum (AIM: DPL) was among the leading fallers in the sector with an 8% decline, as was US focused oil and gas junior Caza Oil & Gas (AIM: CAZA), which dipped 10%. Atlantic Canada operating oil and gas group Enegi Oil (AIM: ENEG) was down 5.4%, while US focused junior Empyrean Energy (AIM: EME) lost 3%.
North Sea explorers Xcite Energy (AIM: XEL) was in the lead with a 7.5% gain, while energy investor Xtract Energy PLC (AIM: XTR) followed, advancing 5.5%. Western Europe operating oil and gas company Northern Petroleum (AIM: NOP) added 3%.
Miners mixed as gold inches lower, silver and platinum hold on
Gold retreated back to US$1,052/oz, while Silver and Platinum held steady at US$17.46/oz and 1,351/oz respectively.
With the exception of gold producers, precious metals focused stocks were in the black today.
Silver miner Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) was in the lead with a 2% climb, while platinum producer Lonmin (LSE: LMI) added less than 1%. Gold miner Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS) posted marginal losses, while peer from the FTSE 250 Petropavlovsk (LSE: POG), which reaffirmed its full year production target of 500,000 ounces today, declined 1.7%.
Specialty chemicals firm Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) rose 1%. Yamana Gold (LSE: YAU) added 2%. Other midcaps Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP) and silver producer Hochschild Mining (LSE: HOC) climbed 2.5% and 1.6% respectively.
Brazil focused gold miner Horizonte Minerals (AIM: HZM) led the juniors with a 7% advance. Turkey focused gold miner Ariana Resources (AIM: AAU) followed with a 6.7% climb. Africa operating gold and platinum miner Goldplat (AIM: GDP) gained 4.3%, while South American based explorer Mariana Resources (AIM: MARL) and Western Australia operating Norseman Gold (AIM: NGL) both added more than 3%, as did diamond miner with assets in Sierra Leone and Guinea West African Diamonds (AIM: WAD).
UK-registered China operating copper and gold miner Central China Goldfields (AIM: GGG) and Tajikistan operating gold miner Kryso Resources (AIM: KYS) went in the opposite direction, shedding 4.3% and 3% respectively.
Base metals cool off after morning rally
Copper and Nickel both improved, rising to US$2.87/pound and US$8.51/pound respectively. Zinc inched higher to US$0.92/pound.
Base metals focused stocks gave most of their early gains away. Anglo American (LSE: AAL) was firmly in the lead with a 2.7% gain, while Xstrata (LSE: XTA) followed with a 2.5% advance. Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) and Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) both added 1.8%, while the world’s largest miner BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT) gained 1%, as did Eurasian Natural Resources (LSE: ENRC) and Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO).
Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) rose marginally.
London's only listed pure iron ore producer and FTSE 250 constituent, Ferrexpo (LSE: FXPO) had its early gains erased to finish just below the opening level.
South American focused junior miner Herencia Resources (AIM: HER), which has just raised £1.37 million for its Chilean project Paguanta, and Russian focused nickel and copper producer Amur Minerals (AIM: AMC), which just secured approval of its resource estimate for a project in eastern Russia, led the sector, rallying 17% and 12% respectively.
Laterite nickel specialist European Nickel (AIM: ENK) also did well with a 3.7% gain.
Irish zinc miner Connemara Mining (AIM: CON) was in selling mode today, declining 5%.
Banks, insurance, private equity
Partly nationalised banks were in selling mode today with Lloyds (LSE: LLOY) declining marginally, while Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) lost 1.5%. Other banking stocks did better. Barclays (LSE: BARC) added almost 1%, while HSBC (LSE: HSBA) rose 1.5%. Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) was flat.
Most insurers turned negative on Monday. Old Mutual (LSE: OML) and Friends Provident (LSE: FP) held on, posting marginal gains.
Aviva (LSE: AV) was at the bottom at the pile with a 2.3% decline, while Prudential (LSE: PRU) shed 1.2%.
Car insurer Admiral Group (LSE: ADM), Legal & General (LSE: LGEN), RSA Insurance Group (LSE: RSA) and Standard Life (LSE: SL) all declined marginally.
Private equity group 3i (LSE: III) suffered marginal losses.
Home credit and motor finance specialist S & U PLC (LSE: SUS) outperformed the market with a 6.7% gain.
Small Cap Movers
Other notable movers among the small caps included UK based electrical components producer and supplier Cinpart (AIM: CINP), which rallied 10%. Developer of CAD and image analysis software Medicsight (AIM: MDST) lost 6.4%, while biotechnology company Plant Impact (AIM: PIM) dipped 11%.
Mobile email and data synchronisation group Synchronica PLC (AIM: SYNC) declined 6.3%.
Large and Mid Cap News
FTSE 250 constituent Russia focused gold miner Petropavlovsk (LSE: POG) said its gold production for the first nine months increased 29% year-on-year as the combined production for the year to date at the Pokrovskiy and Pioneer mines rose 36% to 301,500 ounces (oz), making it confident about reaching the full year production target of 500,000 oz.
Dana Petroleum (LSE: DNX) announced that it has signed an exclusive letter of intent to a 23% working interest in the Hyperdynamics Corp (NYSE Amex: HDY) concession offshore the Republic of Guinea, West Africa. Under the terms of the deal, Dana will pay Texas based Hyperdynamics a total of $20m over the exploration period.
Small Cap News
Tajikistan operating gold miner Kryso Resources (AIM: KYS) has appointed Gordon Lewis as a technical consultant to co-ordinate the bankable feasibility study currently underway at its Pakrut gold project in Tajikistan.
South American focused junior miner Herencia Resources (AIM: HER) has raised £1.37 million through an issue of 250 million new shares for its Paguanta zinc-silver-lead-gold project in Chile and its adjacent La Rosa porphyry-copper prospect.
Africa focused diversified miner Moydow Mines International (AIM&TSX: MOY) confirmed it has received unsolicited offers for its 2% net smelter return royalty on the Ntotoroso gold property in Ghana owned by Newmont Mining Corp (ASX, NYSE: NEM) and was in discussions with third parties interested in a transaction with the company, causing it shares to rise over 28% today.
South America focused explorer Mariana Resources (AIM: MARL) released initial results from the drilling programme at its wholly owned Dos Calandrias project in Argentina, reporting high grade returns, including a hundred metre plus gold intersection.
Specialty chemicals manufacturer Yule Catto (LSE: YULC) said its financial performance in the third quarter has exceeded expectations, helping t reduce debt and send its shares up more than 10%.
Regency Mines PLC (AIM: RGM) said it has issued 10 million new shares at 2 pence each to raise £200,000 before expenses.
London and Sydney listed Discovery Metals (ASX: DML, AIM: DME) has upgraded its Mineral Resource Estimate by 40 per cent at the Zeta prospect within the Boseto Copper Project in Botswana.
Amur Minerals Corp (AIM: AMC) said the Russian State Committee on Reserves (GKZ) has completed its review and a protocol has been issued allowing for the addition of the Maly Krumkon reserves to those previously approved for the other two deposits of the Kun-Manie nickel copper licence area in east Russia.
Links: Full news story
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