RAPAPORT... Sales of jewelry, watches and other luxury items in HongKong rose in January, despite the Chinese New Year falling out a month laterthan last year, according to the municipality's data authority. January retail sales for the category increased 10% year onyear to $1.03 billion (HKD 8.07 billion), Hong Kong's Census and StatisticsDepartment reported last week. Total retail sales for all...Read More

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government has set the threshold at which it can intervene in response to foreign investments in German companies too high and may have to think about lowering it, a senior official in the economy ministry said on Wednesday.Berlin tightened controls on foreign investments last year after a series of high-profile takeovers in Germany by Chinese firms, by extending a 25...Read More

RAPAPORT PRESS RELEASE, March 7, 2018, New York... Diamond market sentiment was positive in February, with steady dealer trading, though allegations of a major bank fraud involving two Indian jewelry companies dampened the mood. Polished prices firmed, following a better-than-expected US holiday season and renewed optimism in China. Traders focused on the Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem &...Read More

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Global diamond producer Gem Diamonds has recovered a 152 ct, top white colour Type IIa diamond from its 70%-owned Letšeng mine, in Lesotho.This is the sixth diamond larger than 100 ct recovered at the mine this year.AdvertisementThe Letšeng mine is famous for the production of large, top colour, exceptional white diamonds, having produced more...Read More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump can choose from a pool of people to succeed the White House’s top economic adviser Gary Cohn, who is expected to leave soon, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told Fox News Channel on Wednesday.“He’s got a number of people that he can choose from. But in the meantime, Gary will still be here as a voice for the next several weeks and we&rs...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in the EU have been largely stable over the past week, with buyers remaining in "wait-and-see" mode, sources have told Metal Bulletin.European mills have been offering June-production HRC but buyers have held back from booking significant volumes until the market trend becomes clear for the third quarter of the year.In addition, end-users have not fully tr...Read More

The continuation of yesterday’s strong upside move in gold was short-lived with today’s price decline erasing much of Tuesday’s $17 gain.Gold is trading under strong pressure today in reaction to the robust ADP jobs report and the release of the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book. As of 5:00 PM Eastern standard time, gold futures are currently down -$8.90 at $1326.30.Gold had bee...Read More

Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange are down across the board by an average of 0.3% this morning, Wednesday March 7. Nickel leads the decline with a 0.9% drop to $13,520 per tonne, while the rest are off between less than 0.1% and 0.3%, with three-month copper prices at $6,977 per tonne.Volume has been average with 6,272 lots traded as of 06.48am London time. Precious metals prices are...Read More

The restriction on imports of some copper scrap products to China has already caused the industry to make some process changes but many questions are still unanswered, a panel of scrap experts said at the Metal Bulletin Copper conference.The number of licenses granted by the Chinese government for copper scrap imports dropped by 94% year on year to account for 136,685 tonnes in the first two...Read More

* Canadian dollar at C$1.2914, or 77.44 U.S. cents* Bond prices higher across the yield curve* Canada's trade deficit narrows to C$1.91 billionBy Fergal SmithTORONTO, March 7 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar weakenedagainst the greenback on Wednesday after the resignation of topU.S. economic adviser Gary Cohn added to worries of a trade war,but some losses were pared ahead of a Bank of Canada inte...Read More

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – De Beers’ second sales cycle of the year saw the continuation of good rough diamond demand, with provisional sales of $555-million.CEO Bruce Cleaver says this is in line with expectations, following strong retail sales of diamond jewellery during the US holiday season and positive early signs for consumer demand over Chinese New Year.AdvertisementSales...Read More

Editor's Note: Gold and silver has been, at best, a frustrating trade. Exclusive to Kitco News, expert trader, Todd "Bubba" Horwitz, chief market strategist and founder of 'Bubba Trading provides a strategy investors can use in a range-bound gold price environment. Sign up before March 10 for the Kitco News Weekly Rundown newsletter to receive Horwitz's exclusive report and trading strategy.(Kitco...Read More

LONDON (Reuters) - Europe and the IMF urged Donald Trump on Wednesday to step back from the brink of a trade war, after the resignation of his top economic adviser emboldened those encouraging him to push ahead with tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.The departure of Gary Cohn, seen as a bulwark against Trump’s economic nationalism, hit shares, oil and the dollar on Wednesday, as investo...Read More

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Thursday March 8.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange slumped by the 5pm close on Wednesday March 7, with a sell-off spurred by uncertainty stemming from the latest developments over the United States' Section 232 probe. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how LME prices looked at Wednesday's close:Europe's largest copp...Read More

SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) – While SHFE aluminium fell 0.77% and tin and zinc edged down today, lead rose 0.67% as copper and nickel inched up.The ferrous complex fell across the board with hot-rolled coil slipping 2.4%. Coking coal dropped 2.3%, rebar went down 1.6%, and coke fell 1.5%. Iron ore edged down slightly.Copper: Support is seen at the five-day moving average during the today as SHFE c...Read More

SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) – While SHFE aluminium fell 0.77% and tin and zinc edged down today, lead rose 0.67% as copper and nickel inched up.The ferrous complex fell across the board with hot-rolled coil slipping 2.4%. Coking coal dropped 2.3%, rebar went down 1.6%, and coke fell 1.5%. Iron ore edged down slightly.Copper: Support is seen at the five-day moving average during the today as SHFE c...Read More

SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) – While SHFE aluminium fell 0.77% and tin and zinc edged down today, lead rose 0.67% as copper and nickel inched up.The ferrous complex fell across the board with hot-rolled coil slipping 2.4%. Coking coal dropped 2.3%, rebar went down 1.6%, and coke fell 1.5%. Iron ore edged down slightly.Copper: Support is seen at the five-day moving average during the today as SHFE c...Read More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Wednesday that many online trading platforms for cryptocurrencies should be registered with the regulator and subject to additional rules, in a further sign regulators are cracking down on the digital currency sector.In a statement, the SEC said these “potentially unlawful” platforms may be giving investors an u...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 15 points in pre-opening trade. Investors are responding to the resignation of Gary Cohn, top White House economic advisor. U.S. equity index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the February ADP employment report at 8:15 AM EST. Consensus was a slip to 203,000 from 234,000 in January. Actual was 235,...Read More

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), the world’s largest publicly traded oil producer, said on Wednesday it expects earnings to more than double by 2025 to $31 billion, with crude prices CLc1LCOc1 at or above current levels.The aggressive growth outlook is designed to directly counter concerns from investors and analysts who have bemoaned the company’s returns, which have sag...Read More