Tuesday was a tough day for stock market investors, as increasing uncertainty about the results of the presidential election and its potential impact on the economic future of the nation sent major market benchmarks down as much as 0.75% on the day. Yet even though the markets were broadly lower, Melco Crown (MLCO -7.11%), Barrick Gold (GOLD 1.33%), and Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM 0.25%) rose sharply today. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so well.
Image source: Melco Crown.
Melco Crown climbs on Macau optimism
Melco Crown rose 8% after the latest monthly figures from the Asian gaming capital of Macau suggested that a rebound in gaming activity there might help spur better results for the casino industry broadly. According to the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, gross gaming revenue in Macau rose 8.8% in October compared to the same month a year ago, coming in at roughly $2.5 billion. Although that's still down on a year-to-date basis compared to 2015, October marked the third straight month of year-over-year gains, and investors are increasingly optimistic that the worst might finally be over for Macau. Once that happens, casino companies like Melco Crown could start seeing better times as well.
Barrick Gold shines
Barrick Gold picked up 5% on a strong day for the precious metals markets generally. Gold rose as much as $14 per ounce to $1,291, hitting its highest levels in a month. Some attributed the gains in the gold market to a rising probability that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump could be the election winner, while others pointed to a little-watched meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee as potentially signaling a longer period of low interest rates than investors previously expected. For Barrick, favorable earnings that included improved projections for production and lower costs show that the company has worked hard to stay competitive even during tough times for the industry. If fundamentals start to shift in gold's favor, then Barrick should be a big beneficiary.
ADM feeds investors
Finally, Archer-Daniels-Midland climbed 7%. The food-products giant suffered a 4% decline in revenue, but net income jumped by more than a third as a bumper crop of many different farm commodities resulted in a large increase in exports. Because ADM's business has relatively low margins, the company does best when volumes are high, and near-record corn and soybean production helped drive export volume upward, especially in light of poor weather conditions in South America. Looking forward, ADM expects that the conditions in the agricultural markets will keep improving, and it hopes to continue strengthening for the remainder of this year and into 2017.
