Nickel price hits 4-year low as gloom offsets potential Indonesia cuts
Indonesia is now considering deep cuts to nickel mining quotas as it seeks to boost slumping prices of the metal.
Coal mining shares rose on Thursday amid uncertainty over the future of nuclear power as Japan races to avert a meltdown at a power plant crippled by last week’s earthquake and tsunami, Reuters reported:
In afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Consol Energy (CNX.N) was up 4.9 percent at $54.96 and Alpha Natural Resources (ANR.N) rose 4.3 percent to $55.17. Peabody Energy (BTU.N) was 3.6 percent higher at $70.05, Massey Energy (MEE.N) was up 3.9 percent at $63.18 and Arch Coal (ACI.N) was 2.2 percent higher at $34.91.
The Dow Jones index of coal company stocks .DJUSCL rose 3.8 percent.
“Long term and short term, coal generation wins by default,” said Stephen Doyle, who runs Doyle Trading Consultants, which specializes in coal.
“The backlash from the (Japan) catastrophe will be huge and at the very least will result in escalated cost estimates that might make nuclear generation as high as electricity from wind and solar.” Thermal coal is used to power electricity generating plants.
