Basic Material Most Active Stocks: Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA), Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC), Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO)

Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) kicked off the U.S. earnings season, gaining after markets closed as it posted better-than-estimated results. The largest U.S. producer of aluminum forecast global demand will exceed production this year, projecting an end to an almost decade-long surplus driven by Chinese output. Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) stock performance was 0.48% in last session and finished the day at $12.53. Traded volume was 29.57million shares in the last session and the average volume of the stock remained 29.40million shares. The beta of the stock remained 1.82. Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) insider ownership is 0.20%.

The $9 billion in punitive damages awarded by the jury against Takeda and Eli Lilly exceed the $5 billion penalty that a jury in Alaska imposed on Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) for the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that the previous Exxon Corporation (NYSE:XOM) Valdez award had been “excessive.” The company was ultimately ordered to pay $500 million. That and other rulings have been read as limiting punitive damages in federal cases. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) rose 0.69 percent to $97.45 Tuesday on volume of 10.25million shares. The intra-day range of the stock was $96.75 to $97.88. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) has a market capitalization of $421.10billion.

Equities researchers at Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Kinross Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:KGC) from $5.75 to $5.25 in a research report issued on Tuesday, AR Network reports. nalysts at Goldman Sachs upgraded shares of Kinross Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:KGC) from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note. Kinross Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:KGC)’s stock on Apr 08, 2014 reported a decrease of -0.70% to the closing price of $4.23. Its fifty two weeks range is $4.01 -$7.32. The total market capitalization recorded $4.84billion. The overall volume in the last trading session was 14.84million shares. In its share capital, KGC has 1.14billion outstanding shares.

Lee M. Tillman, Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO)’s president and CEO said that “strong fourth quarter operating results were offset by decreased price realizations, particularly in the U.S. and Canada.” Nonetheless, management projects a growth in resource play production in excess of 30%, and total company production growth of 4% for 2014. On Tuesday, shares of Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) advanced 1.06% to close the day at $35.27. Company return on investment (ROI) is 7.20% and its monthly performance is recorded as 2.83%. Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) quarterly revenue growth is 1.70%.