Stock Alert: Shares Of Southern Copper Corp. (SCCO) Hit 52-Week High

Shares of Southern Copper Corp. (SCCO) touched a 52-week high of $42.73 on December 18, and closed Wednesday’s trading session at $42.63, up 62 cents or 1.48%. The company engages in mining, exploring, smelting, and refining copper and other minerals in Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, and Chile.

In October, the Phoenix, Arizona-based company reported upbeat results for the third quarter, reflecting higher production at the Toquepala mine, which increased its production by 55.5% as a result of additional copper production of 27,435 tons from the successful start-up of the new concentrator at Toquepala.

The new Toquepala concentrator reached full capacity at the end of the second quarter of this year.

The company’s Q3 net income was $389.6 million or $0.50 per share versus $369.4 million or $0.48 per share last year.

Sales for the quarter rose 7.9% to $1.86 billion from $1.72 billion generated a year ago, largely due to higher sales volume of copper, silver, and molybdenum, as well as better silver prices.

Considering this year’s average prices for the company’s main products, for 2019, Southern Copper expects its cash cost to set at about $0.82 per pound, a reduction of 6% from last year’s cash cost of $0.87.

On October 17, 2019, Southern Copper’s Board authorized a dividend of $0.40 per share payable on November 21, 2019, to shareholders of record at the close of business on November 7, 2019.

Russian opposition leader Navalny freed after Moscow raid – spokeswoman

MOSCOW, Dec 26 (Reuters) – Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny was freed on Thursday after being briefly detained during a raid on the headquarters of his Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) in Moscow, his spokeswoman told Reuters.

The raid occurred a day after Navalny said that the forcible military conscription of one of his allies to a remote air base in the Arctic amounted to kidnapping and illegal imprisonment. (Reporting by Maria Vesilyeva; Writing by Anastasia Teterevleva Editing by Andrew Osborn)

Iran's air pollution: Schools shut, children kept indoors

Government says it is investing millions to reduce pollution but many believe quality of fuel in vehicles is to blame.

Hospitals across Iran are reporting an increase in hospitalisations as a result of severe air pollution.

In the capital Tehran, schools and kindergartens have been ordered shut for one week and children and people with respiratory problems warned to stay inside.

The government has rejected suggestions that low-quality fuel is to blame.

Al Jazeera’s Assed Baig reports from Tehran, Iran.

BoJ Minutes: Some Members Called For Monetary, Fiscal Policies For Next Downturn

A few board members of the Bank of Japan shared the view that the central bank should not only conduct monetary policy but also enhance its cooperation with the government in terms of economic policies and prepare for the next economic downturn, the minutes of the policy board meeting held on October 30 and 31 showed on Tuesday.

A different member pointed out that the BoJ should continue to examine whether additional monetary easing would be necessary.

At the October meeting, the Policy Board voted 7-2 to maintain interest rate at -0.1 percent on current accounts that financial institutions maintain at the bank. The bank retained it yield target for 10-year Japanese government bonds at around zero percent. Yutaka Harada and Goushi Kataoka voted against the proposal.

Further, the bank strongly signaled further monetary easing going forward at the meeting.

Discussing guidance, many members pointed out that, considering that a pick-up in overseas economies would be delayed, it was necessary to pay close attention to the possibility that the momentum toward achieving the price stability target would be lost.

These members said that it was appropriate for the central bank to consider revising the current forward guidance at this meeting. Also, the bank needed to maintain a policy stance that was tilted toward monetary accommodation for a fairly long period of time, members noted.

Spectrum Pharma shares slide 17% premarket after trial of lung cancer treatment misses main goal

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares SPPI, +1.86% fell 17% in premarket trade Thursday after the company said a mid-stage trial of a treatment for non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC, missed its main goal. The Henderson, Nevada-based company said the phase 2 trial dubbed Zenith20 evaluating poziotinib in previously treated NSCLC patients was not met in the first group of 115 patients receiving 15 mg a day. "While the response rate of Cohort 1 in this trial was lower than we expected, the positive signals observed for this cohort provide support for the continued clinical evaluation of poziotinib in this patient population with significant unmet medical need," Chief Executive Joe Turgeon said in a statement. "We look forward to providing read outs from Cohorts 2 and 3 in 2020, and plan to provide an update on the overall program strategy during the first quarter of 2020 after a full evaluation of the data from Cohort 1 is completed." The company also said its Biologics License Application for Rolontis was accepted for review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and set a Prescription Drug User Fee Act date of Oct. 24, 2020. Rolontis is a treatment for chemotherapy-induced neutropenia, an abnormally low white blood cell count that is a side-effect of cancer treatments. Shares are flat in 2019 to date, while the S&P 500 SPX, -0.02% has gained 28.6%.

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