African Rains Dampen Cocoa Prices

The PowerShares DB Base Metals(DBB Quote - Cramer on DBB - Stock Picks) exchange-traded fund, which tracks copper as well as other industrial metals, was losing 0.2%.

Elsewhere, diversified miner BHP Billiton(BHP Quote - Cramer on BHP - Stock Picks) reported its copper and zinc production ballooned in the March quarter vs. the same period a year earlier, up 22% and 26%, respectively. Nickel output was up 14%, aluminum production was roughly flat, while amount of lead recovered was off 8%.

Canadian aluminum producer Alcan(AL Quote - Cramer on AL - Stock Picks) reported first-quarter earnings of $1.60 a share, beating the consensus of $1.47 and up from $1.21 a year earlier. The news sent the shares up 4.25%, to $57.16, in recent trading.

In precious metals, gold futures were losing $2.90 at $691.30 an ounce, and silver was slipping 11 cents at $13.94 an ounce, both on the Comex.

The exchange-traded funds were moving in line with the futures, with streetTracks Gold Shares(GLD Quote - Cramer on GLD - Stock Picks) down 0.8% and the iShares Silver Trust(SLV Quote - Cramer on SLV - Stock Picks) losing 1.9%.

Elsewhere, the European Central Bank says it sold 281 million euros of gold and receivables last week, or slightly over 17 tons, up from 2 tons in the prior period.

In the precious metals patch, Newmont Mining(NEM Quote - Cramer on NEM - Stock Picks) says the head of its Indonesian operation has been cleared of criminal charges of polluting the environment at its mining operations in the province of Northern Sulawesi. The news helped boost the stock, which was up 0.5% in recent action.

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