The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is off to the races again this Wednesday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has gained a healthy 0.65%, putting the index back over the 7,000 point mark for the first time in almost two months. But the Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) share price is doing even better.
Newcrest shares are on fire today. The ASX 200 gold miner has gained an impressive 5.67% at the time of writing to $19.19 a share. That's after the company closed at $18.6 a share just yesterday.
So what's going on with Newcrest here that has gotten investors so very excited?
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Why is the Newcrest Mining share price spiking 5% today?
Well, the first thing one normally does when examining the share price moves of a gold miner like Newcrest, is to look at the price of gold itself. A gold miner's profitability is primarily influenced by what it can sell its gold for, after all.
As my Fool colleague James covered this morning, gold has indeed had a top time of it over the past 24 hours or so. The precious metal rose 2.1% overnight to US$1,716.30 an ounce. This was largely thanks to a decline in the value of the US dollar.
So with gold enjoying a surge in value as we've just seen, it's perhaps no surprise that a gold miner like Newcrest is shining brightly on the ASX today.
We also see other ASX gold shares enjoying similar gains as well. The Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) share price is presently up a healthy 6% at $9.96. While Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX: GOR) shares are up an even more impressive 7.4% at $1.52.
At the current Newcrest Mining share price, this ASX 200 gold share has a market capitalisation of $17.2 billion, with a dividend yield of 2.06%.
