Gold Miner Stocks Soar Toward Fresh Highs, Fueled By Brexit Fears

Gold miners shares were soaring in premarket trade Friday, as the uncertainty caused by the U.K. vote to leave the European Union sent the price of gold, which is seen by many as a safe-haven investment, sharply higher. The SPDR Gold Trust ETF rallied 5.2% toward a 22-month high premarket. The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF ran up 9.9%, which put it on course to open at the highest level since July 10, 2014. Among the GDX's components, shares of Newmont Mining Corp. shot up 8.3% toward a three-year high. The safe-haven status of gold has helped distract investors from the fact that Newmont derived 64.1% of its revenue over the last 12 months from the U.K., according to FactSet, which makes it the S&P 500 component with the highest relative exposure to that country. Among other GDX members active in premarket trade, shares of Goldcorp Inc. surged 7.8%, Barrick Gold Corp. rallied 10% and Yamana Gold Inc. climbed 8.3%.