New York, June 5, 2026, 17:04 (EDT)
Newmont Corp. shares fell nearly 8% on Friday, closing at $99.71, as a sharp drop in gold prices and a broad Wall Street selloff hit the world’s largest gold miner. Trading volume rose to about 9.4 million shares, above its 50-day average, and the stock ended roughly 26% below its late-January 52-week high.
The move matters because Newmont’s cash flow is highly tied to bullion. Gold fell about 3% to $4,341.52 an ounce after a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report pushed Treasury yields higher; gold pays no income, so higher yields raise the cost of holding it rather than interest-bearing assets.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nonfarm payrolls increased by 172,000 in May and that unemployment held at 4.3%. The data cooled hopes for easier Federal Reserve policy and landed badly for gold miners, which had already been trading off a record-price backdrop earlier this year.
“We’ve got payrolls that came in fairly significantly over what was expected,” Bart Melek, global head of commodity strategy at TD Securities, told Reuters. He added that the “cost of carry” for gold — the cost of holding a metal that does not pay interest — was getting high. Reuters
Newmont did not fall alone. Barrick Mining dropped 7.8%, Agnico Eagle Mines lost 7.4% and Royal Gold slid 6.4%, showing that Friday’s selling was aimed at the gold complex, not just one company.
The broader tape was poor, too. The S&P 500 fell 2.64%, the Dow lost 1.35% and the Nasdaq tumbled 4.18%, with chip and technology shares taking the brunt of the hit. “The dam just broke today,” Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group, said of the equity selloff. Reuters
For Newmont, the selloff cut across a still-strong company story. In April, the Denver-based miner said it produced about 1.3 million attributable gold ounces in the first quarter, generated record quarterly free cash flow of $3.1 billion — cash left after spending needed to run and invest in the business — and authorized an additional $6 billion share buyback. Chief Executive Natascha Viljoen said Newmont was “well on track” to meet 2026 guidance. Newmont Corporation
That cash-return plan is one reason investors had treated Newmont as a direct beneficiary of high gold prices. But Friday’s drop showed how quickly the trade can turn when rate expectations move against bullion.
There is also a cost side. Newmont warned after its first-quarter results that second-quarter output would be slightly lower and that unit costs would rise because of higher sustaining capital, lower silver output and pressure at mines including Boddington, Tanami, Lihir and Peñasquito. Interim CFO Peter Wexler said a $10-per-barrel move in oil could have an “approximately $60 million” cost impact. Reuters
But the risk is not one-way. If inflation data soften and yields ease, gold could regain some support, giving miners breathing room. If yields stay firm while oil and royalty costs rise, Newmont’s margins could narrow even with a large buyback in place; Ohsung Kwon, chief equity strategist at Wells Fargo, said markets would likely see volatility into the Fed unless inflation comes in soft.
For now, Newmont is being priced less as a balance-sheet-and-buyback story and more as a rate-sensitive gold stock. The next test is whether bullion stabilizes before investors start asking how much of the first-quarter cash windfall can carry into a tougher second quarter.
