NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar fell to a fresh two-week low against the Japanese yen on Monday, as worries about escalating trade tensions between the United States and other leading economies hurt risk appetite.The greenback was down 0.44 percent at 109.48 yen, after slipping to a two-week low of 109.38 earlier in the session.The U.S. Treasury Department is drafting curbs that would block firms...Read More
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury yield curve flattened to its lowest level in over 10 years on Monday as concerns about trade wars and divisions within the euro zone boosted demand for longer-dated safe-haven debt.Trade fears and tensions in Europe have raised concerns that divisions could slow global growth and potentially impede the Federal Reserve from making further interest rate hikes.F...Read More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Monday that a lot of progress had been made in the Middle East, but he declined to say when the White House would release its plan for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.Trump, during a meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan, said things had improved since he pulled the United States out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. European allies opposed...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices were modestly lower in early-afternoon U.S. trading Monday. Gold was poised to close at a six-month low close today, and silver is at the bottom of its recent trading range. A general sell-off in the raw commodity sector today weighed on the precious metals markets. Gold and silver continue to act more like raw commodities than like safe-haven assets. August g...Read More
(Kitco News) - The most recent data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission confirms what many analysts were predicting - money managers sharply reduced their bullish positioning in gold during the latest reporting week.The CFTC late Friday released positioning data for the week through Tuesday, June 19. Since prices fell sharply a few days after that cut-off date, expectations were that th...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold prices edged up, but were largely unchanged, after the U.S. new home sales rose more than expected in May. New home sales rose 6.7% last month to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 689,000 homes, the U.S. Commerce Department said on Monday. April’s sales were downwardly revised to a rate of 646,000 units from 662,000 units.Market consensus for May projected a 1.5% r...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold has seen a modest bounce off Friday's lower levels on a weaker dollar overnight. The fundamental dynamics suggest gold will remain under pressure until there is a discernible reversal in dollar sentiment. We are seeing some support lining up at the $1,265 level, with upward momentum capped at the $1,278 area. Retail buying has begun to emerge, which suggests investors remain en...Read More
Editor's Note: Welcome to Kitco's new Bitcoin Daily Technical Alert. Every trading day veteran Kitco technical analyst Jim Wyckoff will provide you with a concise and easy-to-understand near-term technical brief on Bitcoin. Importantly, Jim will glean the short-term charts and technical studies, and then alert you to the signals he sees regarding upcoming potential bigger price moves or price tren...Read More
(Kitco News) - Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE, TSX: ABX) said progress has been made in tax negotiations involving the government of Tanzania and Acacia Mining and that the company is no longer setting a timetable for an agreement. Barrick owns 63.9% of the shares in Acacia, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange and operates independently of Barrick. However, Barrick has been negotiating on behal...Read More
Unionized workers at Codelco's Chuquicamata, the world's largest open pit copper mine, have threatened strikes in protest against plans to develop underground mining there and ensuing layoffs.Chuquicamata general manager Mauricio Barazza informed workers last April that 1,700 people, 36% of the mine's workforce, would be asked to leave the company during the mine's transition to an underground pro...Read More
Nickel on the London Metal Exchange were down by more than 3% at the close of trading on Monday June 25 while other base metals prices also slumped. Nickel traded in an intraday range of $680 per tonne, eventually closing 3.6% by the end of trading below $15,000 per tonne.A sharp rise in the dollar index, which remains high, piled pressure on the base metals last week while added uncertainty about...Read More
The London Metal Exchange will introduce three regional hot-rolled coil contracts at the start of 2019, coinciding with a change in attitude towards risk management tools for the ferrous sector, according to the exchange's business development manager. The contracts are aimed at the domestic markets in the United States and in Europe as well as the Chinese export market, said Marko Kusigerski...Read More
The Chinese domestic ferro-silicon market has dropped further, in line with demand and increased production in northern China, while export prices have held despite weaker demand; meanwhile, the European market has been steady, and market sentiment suggests higher spot prices in the near term. Weaker fundamentals, higher supply in northern China drag down domestic prices Europe third-quarter...Read More
The ascent in ammonium paratungstate (APT) prices paused last week after a few consecutive weeks of increases. Chinese, European APT prices stabilize Low availability continues to support APT prices but fewer inquiries seen European ferro-tungsten edges down amid weak demand Chinese ammonium paratungstate (APT) export market slowed down last week amid fewer inquiries from overseas and...Read More
Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) received its first bauxite shipment from Compagnie des Bauxites de Guin?(C)e (CBG) on Sunday June 24 in preparation for the commissioning of its Al Taweelah alumina refinery in Abu Dhabi. Al Taweelah will produce its first alumina in the first half of 2019. At full capacity, the refinery will receive 5 million tonnes per year of bauxite from CBG. EGA has the capacit...Read More
Ferro-chrome benchmark price negotiations for the third quarter of 2018 are revealing a fresh spin on some familiar topics and a more detailed look at regional price differences across the supply chain. Metal Bulletin reported last week that the widely-expected reduction in the third-quarter settlement is likely to be smaller than previously anticipated, due to strengthening ferro-chrome markets,...Read More
Chinese silicon export prices continued to fall amid thin buying appetite and a stronger dollar last week while the European market remained quiet. Metal Bulletin's Chinese grade 553 silicon metal export price dropped to $1,740-1,800 per tonne on Friday June 22, from $1,760-1,850 per tonne the week before. In China, continued environmental scrutiny has weakened demand from silicon metal consu...Read More
The London Metal Exchange will introduce three regional hot-rolled coil contracts at the start of 2019, coinciding with a change in attitude towards risk management tools for the ferrous sector, according to the exchange's business development manager. The contracts are aimed at the domestic markets in the United States and in Europe as well as the Chinese export market, said Marko Kusigerski...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap markets remained quiet on Monday June 25 due to the uncertainty in the market following the general elections in Turkey.Preliminary results from Turkey's presidential election on Sunday June 24 gave Recep Tayyip Erdogan a commanding lead, while his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) failed to win majority of the 600 parliamentary seats. However, the 'People's Al...Read More
China is working toward implementing a complete ban on imports of solid waste, including all metal scrap, by the end of 2020, the country's State Council said on Sunday June 24. The cabinet said the country vows to substantially cut the amount of solid waste imports and eventually prohibit its imports in less than two years' time in an attempt to reduce soil pollution caused by waste processing, a...Read More