INDUSTRY REPORT: The Weekly Dig – August 1, 2014

POSTED ON August 02, 2014 BY Haywood Mining Team
CATEGORY Mining,

Geopolitical Uncertainty Prompts Further Market Jitters

A number of geopolitical factors resulted in volatile market conditions during the week (S&P500 VIX: +33%). Russia was hit with further sanctions for its alleged role in arming pre-Russian militants, who were blamed for the downing of flight MH17 two weeks ago. Israel’s military campaign in Gaza continued, taking the death toll to ~1,400 Palestinians and ~59 Israelis. Despite a 72-hour ceasefire declared on Thursday, fighting resumed on Friday with both sides blaming the other for breaches to the agreement. On Thursday, Argentina defaulted on debt that stretches back to debt owed from a previous default back in 2001. Finally, the Federal Reserve shed a further $10 billion a month from its stimulus program, although interest rates are expected to remain low for “some time” after the Fed’s bond purchasing program ends. These events culminated in significant losses on global markets on Thursday, with the Dow Jones, NASDAQ and S&P500 each losing close to 2%. Precious metals were all down for the week, with gold finishing at $1,295 per ounce on Friday, while silver, platinum and palladium each finished at $20.35, $1,465 and $865 per ounce respectively. Base metal prices were largely steady for the week, helped by-better-than expected Chinese manufacturing data that came in at a 27-month high. Copper, lead and zinc finished at $3.22, $1.00 and $1.06 per pound respectively. The exception was nickel, which was down 4.4% for the week, finishing at $8.32 per pound.

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Haywood Mining Team

Canadian mining companies have been among the industry leaders, creating new exploration and development undertakings and drawing on their recognized production expertise to generate new opportunities. Our mining research team follows all segments of this sector, covering base and precious metal sectors for large and small-cap companies. Haywood's mining sector coverage also continually seeks opportunities in the dynamic Canadian junior market sector, one that has a rich culture in exploration and development. More →

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Haywood Mining Team

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