Berkshire Hathaway buys into Barrick Gold, holds onto Apple

Shares of Barrick Gold were wanted ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street on the back of news that Berkshire Hathaway had taken a position in its stock even as it slashed its holdings across a swathe of the biggest US financial institutions.

In its quarterly 13F report with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the conglomerate controlled by legendary investor Warren Buffet disclosed that it had picked up 21m shares in one of the world's largest gold miners at a cost of approximately $563m.

Among other reasons, the move caught the attention of market participants due to Buffet's long-standing and sometimes public stance against buying the 'yellow metal', having argued in the past that it did not actually help produce anything else.

Also during the second quarter, Berkshire added to his position in grocer Kroger, increasing it by 15% or 3m share.

But the conglomerate fully divested from its holdings in Goldman Sachs and Occidental Petroleum, while cutting that in Wells Fargo by roughly 26% and that in JP Morgan by about 61%.

Berkshire also exited positions in American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines.

It did however hold onto its 245.2m shares in technology darling Apple.

As of 1114 BST, shares of Barrick Gold were jumping by 8.74% to $29.35.