NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 4, 2017 / U.S. markets fell in early trading Wednesday on a batch of mixed corporate earnings and the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates unchanged. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a low of 20,874.18 before settling to close at 20,957.90, an increase of 0.04 percent, while the S&P 500 Index touched a low of 2,379.75 before settling to close at 2,388.13, a decrease of 0.13 percent.

Copper prices slumped Wednesday on concerns of an economic slowdown in China. Copper futures for July delivery closed at $2.533 a pound, a decrease of 3.50 percent.

"I think the biggest thing is the worries about China," said Ryan McKay, Associate Commodities Strategist at TD Securities. "First we had a large build in LME copper stocks today, adding concern to the already elevated inventory levels," McKay said. "Also manufacturing data from China this week has come in below expectations, raising concerns around Chinese demand."

RDI Initiates Coverage on:

Freeport-McMoRan Inc.
https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=FCX

Southern Copper Corp.
https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=SCCO

Freeport-McMoRan's shares declined 5.50 percent to close at $12.02 a share on Wednesday. The stock traded between $11.77 and $12.41 on volume of 36.59 million shares traded. The company reported adjusted earnings per share were $0.15 for the first quarter of 2017, consensus analysts' estimates called for adjusted earnings of $0.16, according to Factset. Revenues were $3.34 billion for the first quarter of 2017, up from $3.24 billion reported in the same quarter a year ago, however it missed consensus revenue estimate of $3.46 billion. Shares of Freeport-McMoRan have fallen approximately 8.87 percent year-to-date.

"Our strong focus on cost and capital discipline combined with improved market conditions for copper are producing solid results. The resumption of concentrate exports in Indonesia and expected continued strong performance from our Americas operations will enable us to generate significant cash flows in the balance of the year to achieve our balance sheet objectives," commented Richard C. Adkerson, President and CEO.

Access RDI's Freeport-McMoRan Research Report at:
https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=FCX

Southern Copper's shares declined 3.94 percent to close at $33.88 a share on Wednesday. The stock traded between $33.86 and $34.89 on volume of 1.27 million shares traded. The company reported a net income of $314.4 million for the first quarter of 2017, an increase of 69.9 percent when compared to the first quarter a year ago. Net sales totaled $1.58 billion for the first quarter, an increase of 27.2 percent year-over-year. On April 27, 2017, the Board of Directors authorized a dividend of $0.12 per share payable on May 31, 2017, to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 17, 2017. Shares of Southern Copper have gained approximately 6.07 percent year-to-date.

Access RDI's Southern Copper Research Report at:
https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=SCCO

Our Actionable Research on Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) and Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE: SCCO) can be downloaded free of charge at Research Driven Investing.

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SOURCE: RDInvesting.com