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Shares of steel maker Gerdau Ameristeel hit record

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Shares of steel producer Gerdau Ameristeel Corp. hit an all-time high Thursday before retreating on a severe downdraft in the broader market.

Gerdau's shares, which have ranged from $9.60 to $19.67 in the last 52 weeks, climbed to a record $19.79 shortly after the opening bell before easing back 51 cents to $18.93 in afternoon trading.

Since the start of the year, the stock has gained nearly 37 percent, easily outpacing the Standard & Poor's 500, which is down 10 percent over the same period.

Gerdau's record high comes as investors bet on growing demand for steel from Brazil, Russia, India and China, among other non-U.S. economies, Goldman Sachs analyst Sal Tharani said recently.

Last month, Gerdau Chief Executive Mario Longhi credited his company's record first-quarter performance on "strong global demand for steel has driven selling prices higher and provided us the opportunity to export our product globally."

Shares of Gerdau, which is based in Tampa, Fla, and owned by Brazil's Gerdau SA, fell shortly after setting a record high as a barrage of bad news weighed on the broader stock market: Another surge in oil prices and warnings of trouble in the key financial, automotive and high-tech indstries.

The major indexes showed losses of more than 2 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which shed more than 250 points and dropped to its lowest level in more than a year.

That sent some investors rushing for the safety of Treasury bonds-govemnment debt is a haven when the stock market is in turmoil.

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