Thursday, April 14, 2011

Teck (TCK) (FCX) (VALE) (RIO) Fall as Base Metals Drop

Even though Gold and silver prices were up moderately Wednesday, diversified miners like Teck Resources Limited (NYSE:TCK), Freeport-McMoran (NYSE:FCX), Vale (NYSE:VALE) and Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO), closed down on the day, as most base metals fell in price.

July platinum added $2.90 to $1,777.20 a troy ounce, but June palladium fell $4.80 to $765.30 a troy ounce.

Among base metals, May copper was down 9 cents to $4.30 a pound in New York trade, while three-month contracts were $115 lower to $9,515 a ton on the London Metal Exchange after stockpiles in LME-monitored warehouses added another 3,225 tons throughout the day.

Tin was also down in London trade, falling $300 to $32,250 a ton, while nickel dropped $450 to $26,250 a ton.

On Wednesday gold prices closed at $1455.60 an ounce. The Silver price for the May contract was higher by .43 percent at 40.24 an ounce.

The collapsing U.S. dollar continues to be a big factor, although it gained in strength near the end of trading Wednesday. Other factors are tightening in China, sovereign debt crisis in Europe, unrest in the Middle East, deepening food and fuel inflation and the consequences of the Japanese earthquake in the auto and tech sectors, among others.

Rio Tinto closed Wednesday at $71.66, dropping $0.47, or 0.65 percent. Teck Resources Limited closed at $52.89, down $1.03, or 1.91 percent. Freeport-McMoran closed at $52.31, falling $1.14, or 2.13 percent. Vale closed at $32.39, declining $0.58, or 1.76 percent.

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