Rio Tinto plc and Other Big Movers In Basic Materials on December 18, 2012

It's been a good morning for the market. The Nasdaq has increased 1.1%; the S&P 500 has climbed 0.8%; and the Dow is trading up 0.6%. 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.

Underperforming the market overall, the Basic Materials sector (XLB) is up 1.1%, and these are its current biggest movers:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
Seabridge Gold, Inc (NYSE:SA)	$839.4 million	-4.6%
Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE:CLF)	$4.83 billion	+4%
Silgan Holdings (Nasdaq:SLGN)	$3.08 billion	-3.8%
Parker-Hannifin (NYSE:PH)	$12.47 billion	+3.1%
Rio Tinto plc (NYSE:RIO)	$104.48 billion	+3.1%
HudBay Minerals Inc Ord (NYSE:HBM)	$1.81 billion	-2.9%
Georgia (NYSE:GGC)	$1.48 billion	+2.9%

Broker Summary: Fidelity Online Brokerage

Seabridge Gold, Inc (NYSE:SA) has fallen 4.6% and is currently trading at $17.97 per share. The company's volume is currently 435,455 shares for the day, 0.9 times its average over the past three months.

Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE:CLF) is currently trading at $35.26 per share, a 4% increase. So far today, 3.4 million shares have changed hands.

After a decline of 3.8%, Silgan Holdings (Nasdaq:SLGN) has hit a share price of $42.86. So far today, the company's volume is 434,106 shares, above yesterday's volume of 77,368 shares.

Parker-Hannifin (NYSE:PH) has moved up 3.1% and is currently trading at $86.22 per share. The company's volume for the day so far is 667,784 shares. This is in keeping with its current daily average.

After an increase of 3.1%, Rio Tinto plc (NYSE:RIO) has reached a current price of $58.15. So far today, the company's volume is 2.3 million shares, 0.7 times the average volume over the last three months.

HudBay Minerals Inc Ord (NYSE:HBM) is currently trading at a share price of $10.22, a 2.9% decline. The company is currently trading a volume of 33,360 shares.

Georgia (NYSE:GGC) has risen 2.9% and is currently trading at $44.16 per share. So far today, 264,894 shares have changed hands, while it was 756,377 shares yesterday.

The Bottom Line On any given day, a particular stock may see positive or negative change in its share price. Paying close attention to the previous ratios will help you identify key times to adjust your strategy. However, these fundamental metrics must be analyzed with historic data, industry information in addition to firm specific financial statements.