WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - U.S. retail sales unexpectedly increased in September, but there are fears that supply constraints could disrupt the holiday shopping season amid continued shortages of motor vehicles and other goods.Retail sales rose 0.7% last month, the Commerce Department said on Friday. Data for August was revised higher to show retail sales increasing 0.9% instead of 0.7% as pre...Read More
MEXICO CITY, Oct 15 (Reuters) - President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will meet U.S. climate adviser John Kerry on Monday near Mexico's southern border with Guatemala, where the two men are expected to discuss a major tree planting program championed by the Mexican leader.Kerry will visit part of the reforestation project in the state of Tabasco, Lopez Obrador said on Friday. The Planting Life pro...Read More
LONDON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Shares rose on Friday, buoyed by stellar corporate earnings results, but strong oil prices and stalling car sales in Europe were a reminder of headwinds for the world economy.The STOXX (.STOXX) index of 600 European shares was up 0.2% at three-week highs. Britain's FTSE 100 (.FSTE) also gained 0.2%, the UK blue-chip index having recovered all ground lost since the co...Read More
In this column last week, I mentioned the importance of asharp $30 intraday reversal which took place in the gold price on the last “booksquaring” trading session of Q3. Technically, this sudden move back above $1750 held the gold price inside thebullish symmetrical consolidation triangle that has been forming over the past14 months. Since thebeginning of Q4, the gold price has been bi...Read More
MILAN, Oct 15 (Reuters) - A former sub-contractor of Leonardo (LDOF.MI) did not sell components to Airbus (AIR.PA), the Italian defence group said on Friday.Shares of the Italian state-controlled conglomerate fell more than 7% on Thursday after Boeing (BA.N) said parts supplied by Leonardo sourced from the sub-contractor had been improperly manufactured.Leonardo said Manufacturing Processes S...Read More
Oct 15 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) reported a 66% surge in third-quarter earnings that swept past expectations on Friday, as Wall Street's biggest investment bank rode a record wave of M&A activity that has also boosted profit for other big U.S. banks.Net earnings applicable to common shareholders rose to $5.28 billion in the quarter ended Sept. 30, from $3.23 billion a year ago.E...Read More
WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - U.S. import prices rebounded in September, lifted by higher food and energy costs, but underlying imported inflation showed signs of moderating.Import prices rose 0.4% last month after falling 0.3% in August, the Labor Department said on Friday. In the 12 months through September, prices shot up 9.2% after advancing 8.9% in August. Economists polled by Reuters had fo...Read More
SINGAPORE/NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Major Chinese energy companies are in advanced talks with U.S. exporters to secure long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG)supplies, as soaring gas prices and domestic power shortages heighten concerns about the country's fuel security, several sources said.At least five Chinese firms, including state major Sinopec Corp and China National Offshore Oil Company (C...Read More
LONDON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Britain's Queen Elizabeth said she was irritated by world leaders who talk about climate change but do nothing to address global warming, and added it was still unclear who would turn up at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.The queen's rare public foray into big power climate politics came as worries grew that Chinese President Xi Jinping, leader of the world's largest...Read More
BERLIN, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Leaders of Germany's centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and two smaller parties will recommend moving into formal coalition talks and have agreed a road map for negotiations, the SPD's candidate for chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said on Friday.The Social Democrats, who came first in last month's election, the Greens and the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) said explorat...Read More
LONDON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - A COVID-19 testing laboratory in central England has been suspended over concern that it has been incorrectly giving negative PCR test results to people who are infected, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Friday.NHS Test and Trace launched an investigation into a lab in Wolverhampton after reports of people getting negative PCR test results after testing posi...Read More
OTTAWA, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday he would reshuffle his cabinet on Oct. 26 and ensure there was a gender balance, even though he lost female ministers in an election last month.Trudeau was re-elected to a third term in office on Sept. 20 but only won a minority of seats, which means he needs to cooperate with opposition legislators to govern."The new...Read More
TOKYO, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Japan's new prime minister Fumio Kishida on Friday told reporters he had spoken with South Korean President Moon Jae-in urging an "appropriate" response on disputes including compensation for forced wartime labour.Moon said he told Kishida in their first phone conversation that it was important to resolve wartime issues in a way that doesn't cause diplomatic friction, Sou...Read More
LONDON/HONG KONG, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Bitcoin hit $60,000 for the first time in six months on Friday, nearing its record high, as traders grew confident that U.S. regulators would approve the launch of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) based on its futures contracts.Cryptocurrency investors have been waiting for approval of the first U.S. ETF for bitcoin, whose recent rally has been fuelled in part...Read More
SHANGHAI, Oct 15 (Reuters) - China's securities regulator said on Friday it will allow qualified foreign institutions to trade more types of onshore derivatives.Starting Nov. 1, investors under the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) scheme will be allowed to trade commodity futures, commodity options and stock index options, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said.Expan...Read More
* Dismissed central bankers seen as opposed to latest rate cut* Central bank survey shows 140 bps of rate cuts expected in 3 months* Central bank policy meeting Thursday next week* Lira has weakened 19% this year vs dollar (Updates with fresh record low vs euro)ISTANBUL, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Turkey's lira touched new lows against the dollar and euro on Friday, hamstrung by worries over more interest...Read More
LONDON (Reuters) - The Japanese yen skidded to a three-year low on Friday and was set for its worst week since March 2020, while the dollar headed for its first weekly decline versus major peers since the start of last month as global risk appetite rebounded.In cryptocurrency markets, the price of bitcoin topped $60,000 for the first time in six months and was not far from its record high on bets...Read More
BEIJING (Reuters) - Liquidity in China's banking system will be basically balanced in the fourth quarter, with no big fluctuations, a central bank official said on Friday.The People's Bank of China (PBOC) will stick to normal monetary policy, which will be flexible, targeted and appropriate, Sun Guofeng, head of the central bank's monetary policy department, told a briefing.The PBOC will use vario...Read More
(Kitco News) The gold market is trading near daily lows as the New York manufacturing sector sees a slower-than-expected recovery, according to the latest data from the New York Federal Reserve.The regional central bank said its Empire State manufacturing survey's general business conditions index fell 15 basis points to 19.8 in October. The data disappointed as consensus forecasts were calling fo...Read More
Editor's Note: With so much market volatility, stay on top of daily news! Get caught up in minutes with our speedy summary of today's must-read news and expert opinions. Sign up here! (Kitco News) - Gold pricesare sharply lower in early U.S. trading Friday and extended early lossesfollowing a very upbeat U.S. retail sales report that falls squarely into thecamp of the U.S. monetary policy hawks,...Read More