Gold stocks climb as futures gain
By Myra P. Saefong, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 4:20 PM ET Sept. 19, 2002
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Shares of major metals stocks closed higher Thursday, supported by a second day of gains in gold futures prices.
Gold for December delivery rose $2.10 to close at $323.90 an ounce on the Commodities Exchange division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract is up about $5 from the start of the week.
The precious metals market found support from weakness in the broader stock market. The Dow Jones Industrials ($INDU: news, chart, profile) fell 230 points to 7,942 Thursday, as a nasty warning from Electronic Data Systems and a glaring earnings miss from Morgan Stanley showcased a still shaky profit environment. See Market Snapshot.
"With tensions in the Middle East simmering and the gold entering a period of typically strong seasonal physical demand, the outlook for the yellow metal is positive," analysts at The Standard Bank in London wrote in a note to clients.
Larry Edelson, a managing editor at Weiss Research, a financial markets information provider, emphasized that "gold is in a new long-term bull market and is very undervalued on inflation adjusted terms." As a result, "I expect gold to play catch-up and move to the $450 to $500 level in the next two years," he said.
Metals stocks rise
On the stock market, the Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index ($XAU: news, chart, profile) added 2.7 percent to 75.83, the CBOE Gold Index ($GOX: news, chart, profile) rose 3.1 percent to 61.73 and the Amex Gold Bugs Index (HUI: news, chart, profile) added 2.1 percent to 134.13.
Among the components of the indexes, Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI: news, chart, profile) added 19 cents to $14.30, Barrick Gold (ABX: news, chart, profile) saw its shares rise 41 cents to $17.44, Goldcorp (GG: news, chart, profile) added 25 cents to $11.49, Placer Dome Gold (PDG: news, chart, profile) rose 4 cents to $10.56, Newmont Mining (NEM: news, chart, profile) climbed by 97 cents to stand at $29.13 and shares of Harmony Gold (HGMCY: news, chart, profile) added 44 cents to $17. |
