Molycorp shares spike after CEO gives sales, price forecast in Reuters interview

Shares of U.S. rare earth producer Molycorp soared some 14 percent a day after its CEO exclusively told Reuters that the Japan earthquake had not hurt its business and that it was on track to make its first-quarter sales target. Analyst Elizabeth Harrow of Schaeffers Investment Research sent clients a note attributing MolyCorps stock rise to the news reported by Reuters. Another analyst at Dahlman Rose noted that CEO Mark Smith`s comments that prices had risen helped drive up the shares of smaller players in the rare earth sector, including Rare Element Resources, which jumped 15 percent, and Avalon Rare Metals, which rose 10 percent. Smith was speaking at the Reuters Global Mining and Steel Summit on March 21.