Mining Losers: Peabody, Freeport, BHP
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Mining stocks were down across the board on Tuesday, weighed down by broader declines as the markets struggled to cope with the implications of a Chinese interest rate hike and the specter of eurozone bailouts.
Coal producer
Peabody Energy
(BTU) - Get Report
was falling 3.5% to $55.78 despite widely-circulated reports of India's growing interest in buying U.S. commodity assets as the emerging economy continues to grow rapidly. For instance, last Friday, the world's biggest coal producer, state-owned
Coal India
, was reported by the
AP
to be considering buying mining assets from Peabody Energy and U.S. coal rival
Massey Energy
( MEE).
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold
(FCX) - Get Report
, which mines for products that end up in everything from piping to wiring and has greatly benefited from China's breakneck industrial growth, was slumping by 4.6% to $97.36.
BHP Billiton
(BHP) - Get Report
was falling 3.1% to $84.97. Earlier, the
WSJ
reported that the diversified mining giant's chairman, Jacques Nasser, said during an annual investor meeting in Perth, Australia, that the company will continue seeking opportunities to buy the highest quality mining assets despite three unsuccessful attempts at doing so. But Nasser cautioned that such pursuits are becoming more difficult given heightened national protectionist sentiment in a still vulnerable global economy.
Crude oil and natural gas company
Canadian Natural Resource
(CNQ) - Get Report
was falling by 3.4% to $37.87. As the stock market suffered a beating Tuesday, the
Calgary Herald
said a tailings pond at Canadian Natural Resources' Horizon oils and mine north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada might be leaking despite reassurances from local regulators. News of a toxic leak was originally reported by
CBC News
before the local paper looked further into the matter.
-- Written by Andrea Tse in New York.
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