GOLD STOCKS NEWS – Gold stocks recouped the majority of their earlier losses in mid-day trading on Tuesday as the broader equity markets rebounded from an earlier sell-off. The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) – comprised of primarily large-cap gold stocks – initially fell as much as 1.2% to $47.22 per share, but subsequently recaptured the large majority of its decline to trade down by only 0.2% at $47.67.
The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ) followed a similar path to the GDX, as it traded down by just 0.3% at $22.14 per share late this morning. Canada’s leading composite of gold stocks, the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index, fell 0.2% to 313.62.
(Rankings and analysis on over 90 stocks in the GDX and GDXJ – available at GoldAlert Pro – http://pro.goldalert.com)
Gold stocks in the news this morning included GDX component New Gold (NGD), which was upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform by RBC Capital Markets. In its report, RBC wrote that “Given the recent underperformance following Q3/2012 earnings, New Gold now appears attractively valued relative to its high quality peers.”
The firm went on to say that “New Gold has underperformed S&P/TSX Global Gold Index by two fold since Q3 earnings were released (down 18% versus index down 9%),” and that “Valuation on both a P/NAV and 3-Year P/CF has pulled back into the range of its other high quality peers (AEM, AUY, EGO and GG).”
RBC did not change its $15.00 price target on NGD, however, which fell by $0.15, or 1.5%, to $10.03 per share on Tuesday.
RBC also published a report this morning on Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM), after the Canadian-based gold miner released an update on exploration activities at several of its projects. The firm reiterated its Outperform rating and $69.00 price target on AEM and noted that “Positive exploration drill results were provided for the Meliadine feasibility project, Kittila mine, the La India development project, and the Tarachi deposit. We view these results as positive for the shares as they indicate strong potential for organic resource growth in key assets.”
Despite the positive commentary, shares of AEM remained down by $0.70, or 1.3%, at $54.72 in mid-day trading. Other notable GDX components in the red included Gold Fields (GFI) and IAMGOLD (IAG) – which slid by 1.3% to $11.85 and by 0.9% to $11.77 per share, respectively.
On the positive side, Barrick Gold (ABX) advanced by 0.6% to $34.50 and Kinross Gold (KGC) added 0.6% to $9.68 per share.
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