Shares of Australia’s top gold miner Newcrest Mining Ltd fell as much as 5.4% on Friday, marking its worst intraday fall in nearly 10 months after its potential buyer Newmont Corp overnight reported weaker-than-expected second quarter profit.
Newcrest, which is in the process of being acquired by Newmont for A$26.2 billion ($17.75 billion), was trading 5.2% lower at A$26.20 as of 0506 GMT, its lowest level since July 7.
Newcrest was one of the biggest losers in the ASX 200 benchmark index, which was trading 0.2% lower.
Around 2.9 million Newcrest shares had changed hands, higher than the 30-day average of 2.4 million shares.
Newmont, the world’s largest gold miner, missed second-quarter profit estimates due to lower production and higher costs. It also withdrew the annual outlook for its Penasquito mine in Mexico as operations remain suspended due to a strike.
The Denver, Colorado-based gold miner said it expects costs to improve through the rest of the year.
($1 = 1.4758 Australian dollars)
(By Sameer Manekar; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)