WELLINGTON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - New Zealand business sentiment turned negative and sunk to a two-year low in the fourth quarter on pessimism towards the new centre-left government, a private think tank said on Tuesday.A net 12 percent of firms surveyed expected general business conditions to deteriorate compared with 5 percent who had forecast an improvement the previous quarter, the New Zealand In...Read More
ALL TIMES IN EST/GMT -------------------------------------------------------1100/1600: U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) releases weekly U.S. export inspections for grains, oilseeds (Delayed from Monday due to holiday) 1130/1630: Treasury Dept weekly sale of 3-, 6-month bills (Delayed from Monday due to holiday) 1300/1800: Treasury Dept. sells 4-week bills -------------------------------------...Read More
* Aims for depreciation of less than 4.8 percent* Ghana in its last year of IMF credit programme By Kwasi KpodoACCRA, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Ghana's cedi will be more stable in 2018 than last year, helped by lower inflation outlook and higher oil production, the central bank said on Monday.The currency of the major commodity exporter declined 4.88 percent to the dollar in 2017, its best performance i...Read More
WELLINGTON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - New Zealand employee confidence edged up to its highest since before the 2008 global financial crisis in the fourth quarter, a survey showed on Tuesday.The Westpac-McDermott Miller employee confidence index inched up to 113.9 in the three months to the end of December, from 113.8 in the previous quarter.Optimism towards strong jobs growth was still warring with low w...Read More
(Kitco News) - The current U.S. dollar’s plunge is temporary, says Capital Economics, noting that a recovery is on its way, but warning that the currency might face renewed pressure in 2019.The Fed’s plan to tighten its monetary policy this year will be the main underlying factor supporting the greenback, John Higgins, chief markets economist at Capital Economics, said in a note on Mon...Read More
(Adds background, CEO commentary)Jan 16 (Reuters) - Auckland International Airport said on Tuesday it would sell its stake in North Queensland Airports (NQA) to existing investors for A$370 million ($294.82 million), as it looks to focus on its domestic business.Perron Investments and The Infrastructure Fund have already agreed to buy all of Auckland Airport's 24.6 percent stake in NQA, the compa...Read More
LJUBLJANA, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Slovenian tax inflows reached 15.5 billion euros ($19 billion) in 2017 compared with 14.6 billion a year before according to preliminary figures, Slovenia's Financial Administration, in charge of tax collection, said on Monday.The collected taxes on companies' income rose by 27.8 percent while the collected value-added-tax was 6.8 percent higher, the administration sa...Read More
(Adds comments on Brexit)By David MillikenLONDON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - The Bank of England probably has "ample time" before it needs to consider raising interest rates again after its first hike in more than a decade in November, BoE policymaker Silvana Tenreyro said on Monday.Tenreyro said she felt comfortable at last month's rate-setting meeting to keep on monitoring the impact of the 2...Read More
By Jonathan Stempel and Matt ScuffhamNEW YORK/TORONTO, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Nine large banks, including six from Canada, have been accused in a lawsuit of conspiring to rig a Canadian rate benchmark to improve profits from derivatives trading.The complaint, filed by a Colorado pension fund in U.S. District Court in Manhattan late on Friday, accused Royal Bank of Canada , Toronto-Dominion Bank , Bank...Read More
LONDON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Wage growth alone is too crude a gauge to judge when the Bank of England should next raise interest rates, and instead the central bank needs to consider productivity trends and other factors, BoE policymaker Silvana Tenreyro said on Monday.Tenreyro, speaking after a lecture at Queen Mary University of London, also said there were "huge" problems measuring the...Read More
BUCHAREST, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Romania's Prime Minister Mihai Tudose resigned on Monday, after his ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD) leaders withdrew political backing for him in an overwhelming vote, the second premier to be ousted by his party in less than seven months."The vote was overwhelming, to dismiss Prime Minister Tudose," one member of the PSD's leadership told Reuters by tele...Read More
(Kitco News)- McEwen mining saw total gold and silver production growby 4.7% in 2017, a year described by CEO Rob McEwen as one of growth andacquisition.Image courtsey of McEwening Mining: Black Fox MineMonday, in its fourth-quarter and full year production report,McEwen Mining (NYSE: MUX, TSX: MUX) said it produced 109,947 ounces of gold in 2017, in line withcompany guidelines and up from 101,481...Read More
(Corrects typo in "scheduling" in paragraph 6)By JanWolfeJan 11 (Reuters) - Tivo Corp has again sued cable operator Comcast Corp of using its patented interactive programming technology without authorization, the latest salvo in the companies' long-running royalty dispute.Tivo filed lawsuits in Boston and Los Angeles on Wednesday, saying Comcast's X1 video recording system infringed on...Read More
Susan TaylorTORONTO, Jan 15 (Reuters) - RNC Minerals is in talks with commodity traders, mine operators and financiers to help secure $1 billion to build the world’s biggest nickel and cobalt project next year, the Canadian miner said.A global battery boom, driven by growing demand for electric cars, is pushing prices higher for such key ingredients as nickel and cobalt and encouraging miner...Read More
Philip Blenkinsop, Noah BarkinBRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union’s trade tsar has no idea what Donald Trump will tell his audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos next week, but she is clear what the EU’s message to the U.S. president will be.America is shooting itself in the foot by withdrawing from global leadership on trade, Cecilia Malmstrom, the 49-year-old Swede who has...Read More
David LjunggrenVANCOUVER (Reuters) - Foreign ministers from around 20 nations gather on Tuesday to discuss how to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions through diplomatic and financial pressure, but China, seen as a key player in any long-term solution, will be absent.The Vancouver meeting, co-hosted by Canada and the United States, comes amid signs that tensions on the peninsula have eased,...Read More
The rebound in the precious metals sector continues. Friday, Gold pushed to another new high, near $1340/oz. Gold stocks led by the HUI Gold Bugs Index and GDX also made a new high with juniors and Silver right behind. The greatest traders say the move comes first and then the reason later. When it comes to Gold we are always analyzing the reason behind the moves so we can distinguish between reac...Read More
PARIS, Jan 15 (Reuters) - The Bank of France said on Monday it already held some currency reserves in yuan, hours after the German central bank said it was looking to move some of its reserves into the Chinese currency."Currency reserves remain in their vast majority invested in U.S. dollar, with a diversification towards a limited number of international currencies such as the Chinese renmin...Read More
LONDON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - The Bank of England probably has "ample time" before it needs to consider raising interest rates again after its first rate hike in more than a decade in November, BoE policymaker Silvana Tenreyro said on Monday.Tenreyro said in a speech that she felt comfortable at last month's rate-setting meeting to keep on monitoring the impact of the 25 basis-point increas...Read More
(Bloomberg) - Copper jumped by the most in two months and zinc hit a fresh decade-high as base metals rallied on a potent combination of a softer dollar, dwindling inventories and continued robust outlook for demand. Palladium rallied to a new record as all precious metals climbed.Copper surged as much as 2.1 percent, the most since Nov. 13, to $7,262 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange. Al...Read More