Something strange is happening with the Newmont Corporation (ASX: NEM) share price this Tuesday. When the markets opened this morning, investors wouldn't be blamed for thinking that Newmont shares might be in for a rough session.
Most ASX gold stocks are having a tough one today. Gold miners ranging from De Grey Mining Ltd (ASX: DEG) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) to Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Perseus Mining Ltd (ASX: PRU) are falling in tandem this Tuesday.
The losses range from just over 1% for De Grey to around 4.5% for Westgold.
But Newmont is a conspicuous outlier. The largest gold stock on the ASX did open in the red this morning, starting trade today at $63.97 a share after closing at $64.75 yesterday. But at the time of writing, Newmont shares have recovered significantly, and are trading almost flat at $64.76. That's up 0.02% for the session thus far.
So what's going on here?
Well, it's a bit of a head-scratcher.
Why is the Newmont share price rising today?
We do know why most of the ASX's gold stocks are falling today. The price of gold itself had a strong end to the week last week, as we documented this morning. But some fresh news out of the United States appears to have put a dent in gold.
According to Reuters, American President-elect Donald Trump has just announced that on his first day in office, he is set to impose a new 25% tariff on any imports entering the United States from Canada and Mexico. Chinese imports will also be slapped with a new 10% tariff.
In response, the US dollar has spiked in value, driving a slump in gold prices. The precious metal was trading at US$2,718.20 in the early hours of this morning. But, at the time of writing, that same ounce is down to just US$2,636.
The Newmont share price should, by all accounts, be dropping on this news, as are its peers.
But another factor should also be weighing on Newmont shares today. This company has just traded ex-dividend for its latest quarterly dividend payment.
Yep, as we warned last week, Newmont was scheduled to trade ex-dividend this Tuesday, 26 November. Investors who owned Newmont shares as of yesterday's market close will be receiving Newmont's US 25 cents (39 cents at current rates) per share dividend next month on 23 December. However, anyone buying Newmont shares from today onwards isn't eligible to receive this latest shareholder payment.
Normally, when this occurs, we see a corresponding drop in a company's share price. This reflects the inherent loss of value for new investors from the now-forgone dividend.
Yet that is evidently not happening with the Newmont share price. It's not entirely clear why this ASX 200 gold stock is bucking conventional wisdom to push higher. It's possible that the announcement out of Newmont this morning is staying investors' hands.
Has a gold mine sale made the difference?
Just before market open, Newmont informed investors it has agreed to sell its Éléonore operation in Northern Quebec, Canada, to UK-based private company Dhilmar Ltd for US$795 million in cash. This continues Newmont's ongoing efforts to divest itself of 'non-core' assets.
It's possible that investors are appreciating this news so much that the goodwill is compensating for the drops in the gold price we've seen today, as well as the stock's ex-dividend status.
Whatever the true cause, no doubt Newmont's investors won't be complaining. The Newmont share price remains up almost 14% over the past 12 months:
