Basic Materials Stocks, Including Rio Tinto plc, Making Big Moves on December 17, 2012

The market is currently up, with the Nasdaq increasing 0.5%, the S&P 500 moving up 0.6% and the Dow rising 0.5%. The basic materials sector is the category of stocks that accounts for companies involved with the discovery, development and processing of raw materials. This sector includes the mining and refining of metals, chemical producers and forestry products. The basic materials sector is sensitive to changes in the business cycle. Because the sector supplies materials for construction, it depends on a strong economy. This sector is also sensitive to supply and demand fluctuations because the price of raw materials, such as gold or other metals, is largely demand driven.

The Basic Materials sector (XLB) is up 0.5%, outperforming the market overall. The biggest movers in the sector so far are:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
Polypore International (NYSE:PPO)	$1.91 billion	+6.2%
HudBay Minerals Inc Ord (NYSE:HBM)	$1.87 billion	-2.3%
Rio Tinto plc (NYSE:RIO)	$101.77 billion	+2.1%
Berry Plastics Group (NYSE:BERY)	$1.75 billion	-1.5%
Quaker (NYSE:KWR)	$658.7 million	+1.5%
PolyOne (NYSE:POL)	$1.78 billion	-1.5%
Yamana Gold Inc (NYSE:AUY)	$13.07 billion	-1.4%

Forex Broker Summary: UFXMarkets

Increasing 6.2%, Polypore International (NYSE:PPO) is trading at $43.50 per share. So far today, the company's volume is 355,424 shares, one times its current daily average.

Falling 2.3%, HudBay Minerals Inc Ord (NYSE:HBM) is currently at a share price of $10.61. The company's volume for the day so far is 10,200 shares.

After an increase of 2.1%, Rio Tinto plc (NYSE:RIO) has reached a current price of $56.02. This morning, 1.7 million shares have been traded, with trading activity in keeping with yesterday's lighter than yesterday's volume of 4.2 million shares.

Berry Plastics Group (NYSE:BERY) has decreased to $15.29 per share, a 1.5% fall. So far today, 86,756 shares have changed hands. This is 0.3 times its average volume over the past three months.

Quaker (NYSE:KWR) has risen 1.5% and is currently trading at $50.97 per share. At 29,050 shares, the company's volume so far today is 0.7 times the current daily average.

PolyOne (NYSE:POL) is currently trading at a share price of $19.67, a 1.5% decline. This morning, the company is trading a volume of 139,013 shares.

Yamana Gold Inc (NYSE:AUY) is trading at $17.15 per share, down 1.4%. So far today, the company's volume is 2.7 million shares,.

The Bottom Line No matter the economic climate, Wall Street will always have stocks that make major moves each week. Daily stock performance should be weighed against historical performance and put in context of the market overall. However, these fundamental metrics must be analyzed with historic data, industry information in addition to firm specific financial statements.