* GRAPHIC-2017 asset returns: * LME/ShFE arb: (Adds closing prices)By Zandi ShabalalaLONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Zinc and nickel rallied to multi-year highs on Thursday on a softer dollar and steadily declining inventories in London Metal Exchange-approved warehouses.Lead also rose to its highest in over seven years but ended the day lower. The dollar skidded against other major currencies on Thurs...Read More
Yesterday, gold won an influential supporter in the White House. Who is he?The enemy of gold's enemy is gold's friendAs the ancient proverb goes, my enemy's enemy is my friend. Although it is usually employed in foreign policy, this concept also applies to finance. Given the negative correlation between the greenback and gold, the enemies of the U.S. dollar are generally gold's friends.U.S. Treasu...Read More
LISBON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Portugal's public sector deficit shrank 38 percent to 2.57 billion euros ($3.21 billion) last year, with revenues coming in well above the levels budgeted for the year, although expenditure also exceeded the plan to a lesser extent.The finance ministry said in a statement on Thursday the primary balance, excluding debt costs, reached a surplus of more than 5.7 billion eu...Read More
MILAN, Jan 25 (Reuters) - European Central Bank supervisors want lenders to reduce the weight of their soured loans to a single digit percentage of total debts fairly quickly, the head of Italy's fifth-largest bank said.Italian banks are under pressure to cut loans that turned sour due to an economic slump and still account for 16 percent of total lending three years after the recession ended.Ital...Read More
LAGOS, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Nigeria will consider raising $2.5 billion through Eurobonds in the first quarter to refinance a portion of its domestic treasury bill portfolio at lower cost, the head of the Debt Management Office told Reuters on Thursday.Patience Oniha said the country will also try to get back into the JP Morgan Government Bond Index (GBI-EM), with improving liquidity in the local cur...Read More
In morning trade on Thursday, gold jumped to its best level since August 2016 touching a high of $1,365.40 an ounce after comments from US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland sent the dollar lower.But the metal reversed course in the afternoon after US President Donald Trump told CNBC that Mnuchin's comments had been misinterpreted:"The dollar is g...Read More
In morning trade on Thursday, gold jumped to its best level since August 2016 touching a high of $1,365.40 an ounce after comments from US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland sent the dollar lower.But the metal reversed course in the afternoon after US President Donald Trump told CNBC that Mnuchin's comments had been misinterpreted:"The dollar is g...Read More
By John McCrankNEW YORK, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Nasdaq Inc and NYSE, which operates the New York Stock Exchange, have said they will appeal the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's decision to allow rival Cboe Global Markets to compete for end-of-day stock orders.The SEC on Jan. 17 approved Cboe's plan to offer brokers an order type that would give them the same official closing auction prices fr...Read More
While some blue-chips cash in, earnings season hasn't been kind to everyone. RPC Inc (NYSE:RES) reported weaker-than-expected fourth quarter earnings yesterday, sending the oil equipment stock to its worst single-day session in over two years. No fewer than nine brokerages have since chimed in with price-target cuts, including a cut to $21 from $25 at Credit Suisse -- the lowest of the bunch. In...Read More
By Ben Martin and Simon JessopLONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - BT still has work to do to restore shareholders' confidence after a difficult year that saw its shares plunge in the wake of an Italian accounting scandal, according to one of Britain's leading investor groups.The Investor Forum, an independent body whose members are institutions that manage about about 14 trillion pounds ($20 trillion) of g...Read More
MILAN, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Italy's Treasury said on Thursday it would offer up to 9.0 billion euros over four bonds at auction on Tuesday.BOND TYPE BTPBTPBTPCCTeuMATURITYAug. 1,Feb. 1, March 1,April 15,202220282067 2025TRANCHE 1114 7COUPON (pct) 0.902.02.8-AMOUNT OFFERED 1.25-1.75 4.0-4.5 0.25-0.751.5-2.0(bln euros)SETTLEMENT DATE Feb. 1, 2018(Reporting by Milan Newsroom) Disclaimer: The views exp...Read More
U.S. stocks have seen whipsaw price action again today, as investors react to the latest corporate earnings reports. Specifically, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) briefly pared most of its triple-digit gain amid post-earnings volatility in Caterpillar (CAT) shares, but has since bounced back to trade near the record high it hit earlier. TheS&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) are...Read More
(Kitco News)- Rhetoric over a potential globalcurrency war continues to heat up, prompting renewed interest in gold on theback of a weaker U.S. dollar.Markets continue to react anddigest comments made by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at the WorldEconomic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. On Wednesday, Mnuchin said that a weakerU.S. dollar has been “good” for the U.S. economy, rever...Read More
(Kitco News) - BMO Capital Markets looks forgold demand to continue even if the U.S. dollar recovers from some of itsrecent weakness, expressing confidence that the metal can remain above $1,300an ounce even on a pullback.Spot gold Thursday traded as highas $1,366.05, its strongest level since August 2016, before backing down. Themetal has been boosted in recent days by weakness in the U.S. dollar...Read More
By Francesco CanepaFRANKFURT, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Once famed for his ability to steer financial markets, European Central Bank's President Mario Draghi failed on Thursday to tame a sharp rally in the euro that threatens to blunt the impact of years of monetary stimulus.The single currency rallied to a fresh three-year high of $1.2536 as Draghi delivered an upbeat assessment of the euro zone economy...Read More
(Updates to reflect afternoon trade)JOHANNESBURG, Jan 25 (Reuters) - South African assets were little changed on Thursday, with the rand strengthening slightly as the leader of the ruling African National Congress talked up the prospects for foreign investment at the World Economic Forum in Davos.At 1606 GMT, the rand was 0.08 percent stronger against the dollar at 11.8400, after hitting a new 2...Read More
(Refiles to remove advisory line. No other changes to text)By Rodrigo CamposNEW YORK, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The Mexican peso touched its strongest against the dollar in nearly four months on Thursday as the U.S. currency continued to weaken, while Argentina's Merval stock index briefly broke above the 35,000-point mark for the first time.Many emerging currencies hit multi-year highs against the green...Read More
* Draghi takes swipe at U.S.* May have to rethink policy* No rate hike this year* Rates, guidance kept unchanged* QE expected to end this year (Adds detail)By Balazs Koranyi and Francesco CanepaFRANKFURT, Jan 25 (Reuters) - European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi took a swipe atWashington on Thursday for talking down the dollar, a move he said threated a decades-old pact not to target the currenc...Read More
GOLD (in USD) Rising. Gold increases and exceeds the 1345 resistance point (15/01/2018). Hourly support is maintained at 1'306 (04/01/2018 low). The commodity even outreached the strong resistance landmark at 1357 (08/09/2017 high). The technical structure indicates further shortterm upside moves. In the long-term, the technical structure suggests that there is a growing upside momentum....Read More
LONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Foreign exchange trading out of London declined 4 percent in October 2017 to $2.23 trillion, compared with six months earlier, thanks to a drop in volumes in cash spot and swaps, a semi-annual survey by the Bank of England showed on Thursday.The survey showed spot turnover in London, the world's biggest currency trading hub, declined by $45 billion per day from six month...Read More