High zinc prices could eventually lead to an irreversible dent in consumption of the metal, specifically in the form of zinc alloys in electric vehicles, market participants told Metal Bulletin.Substitution out of zinc is likeliest in the alloys sector, a zinc producer told Metal Bulletin, estimating that up to 3-5% of usage of metal at current levels could be at risk - albeit over a matter of yea...Read More

WASHINGTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve should keep interest rates low so that wage gains accelerate and inflation rises, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said on Tuesday."Inflation has been low, wage growth has been low, so I'm advocating for lower interest rates to get wages up and to get inflation back to our 2 percent target," Kashkari said at an eve...Read More

* 10-year yields hit a 10-month month high* BOJ trims bond buying, sparking sell-off* US Treasury to sell $24 bln in 3-year notes at 1 pm EST By Kate DuguidNEW YORK, Jan 9 - Yields on the benchmark U.S. government bond hit a 10-month high on Tuesday after the Bank of Japan said it will trim its purchases of Japanese government bonds. The announcement raised speculation the Japanese central bank m...Read More

Comex copper prices weakened Tuesday January 9 morning in the US, although the complex remains well-supported due to positive Chinese and US data released in the past few weeks.Copper for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 0.70 cents or 0.2% to $3.2170 per lb."We remain bullish for copper's fundamentals and the price's action seems to be supporting th...Read More

MILAN, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Italy's Treasury has picked Banca IMI, Barclays Bank, ING Bank, JP Morgan and Royal Bank of Scotland to issue a new 20-year BTP bond in the near future.The new bond will expire on September 1, 2038, the Treasury said in a statement. (Reporting by Francesca Landini) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco M...Read More

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday January 10.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close on Tuesday January 9, with only nickel trading in positive territory. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how prices looked at the end of the day on Tuesday.Comex copper prices weakened during morning trading in the United Stat...Read More

TORONTO, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index seesawed on Monday as higher oil prices boosted energy shares, while the materials group was pressured by a drop in gold prices.The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index fell 0.96 of a point, or 0.01 percent, to 16,316.69 shortly after the open. Seven of the index's 10 main groups were higher. (Reporting by Fergal Smith Editing by...Read More

Base and precious metals miner Hudbay Minerals (TSX, NYSE:HBM) has agreed to buy a series of mining properties in southern Peru near its Constancia copper mine, which will see the Canadian company expanding its footprint in the country, the world's second largest producer of the red metal.The Toronto-based miner has now the option to buy a 100% interest in the Caballito (formerly Katanga) and Mar...Read More

The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Tuesday January 9.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were on divergent paths this morning, with only copper and nickel continuing to edge higher.Here is how the LME base metals complex looked at 11.59am London time:For a snapshot of exchange news, check out our live...Read More

Brazil's Vale (NYSE:VALE), the world's largest iron ore and nickel miner, has officially closed the sale of its fertilizer business to US-based Mosaic Co. (NYSE:MOS), the No.1 producer of phosphate fertilizer, in a deal worth about $1.4 billion, considerably less than the $2.5bn originally estimated.The transaction, part of Vale's strategy to cut debt and focus on its core businesses, excludes t...Read More

Bioquell PLC (LON:BQE) was one of the biggest market gainers in later afternoon trading, jumping nearly 15% higher to 324p after the company said it expects earnings for 2017 to be "significantly" ahead of the market's expectations.In a trading update, the specialist bio-decontamination product producer said it expects its revenue for 2017 to be at around ?29.3mln, ahead of previous expectations,...Read More

The Democratic Republic of Congo's state-owned miner, G?(C)camines, is calling the government to update the 16-year-old mining code, arguing it currently benefits foreign firms more than local producers or the country itself.The company, which is heavily indebted and has consistently failed to meet production targets as of late, said in a statement it was evident the World Bank-supported Mining C...Read More

Good morning from Metal Bulletin's office in Singapore, as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Tuesday January 9. Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly higher during Asian morning trading on Tuesday, with copper prices finding slight support from potential supply-side constraints, while tin was the lone metal in negative territory. Check Metal Bulletin's l...Read More

Jan 9 (Reuters) - Wall Street's major indexes opened at record levels on Tuesday, keeping alive the 2018 rally that is powered by robust economic data and expectations of strong quarterly earnings.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 39.86 points, or 0.16 percent, to 25,322.86. The S&P 500 gained 3.78 points, or 0.137569 percent, to 2,751.49. The Nasdaq Composite added 17.27 points, or 0.24 p...Read More

LONDON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Below are the tables for the best and worst performing actively managed emerging market equity and bond funds in 2017, based on data from Lipper Global, a Thomson Reuters company. The returns are measured in the fund's local currency.The tables only include funds available for sale in Britain and exclude those with less than $50 million under management.For a story on fun...Read More

Morrisons has thrown down the gauntlet to supermarkets and we'll see on Wednesday whether J Sainsbury PLC picks it up.Of course, Morrisons and Sainsbury's operate in different strands of the supermarket spectrum, plus the latter now includes Argos within the group, but even so, Morrisons' 2.8% year-on-year growth in like-for-like (LFL) sales (excluding fuel) in the 10 weeks to 7 January has s...Read More

SHANGHAI, Jan 9 (SMM)? 1/4 ?Nonferrous metals traded higher this afternoon with zinc and nickel rising over 1%. Lead and copper were up close to 1%, while tin and aluminium edged down slightly.Ferrous metals were firm today with iron ore leading the gain with over 3% rise. Coking coal moved higher by 1.7%, while hot-rolled coil and rebar rose over 1%. Coke also traded up slightly.Copper: SHFE copp...Read More

* Chinese funds lead equity league tables* Russia equity funds biggest losers of 2017* Vontobel tops EM debt funds with contrarian stance* TABLE-Leaders and laggards in 2017: By Claire MilhenchLONDON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Chinese equity funds trounced their emerging market peers in 2017, buoyed by MSCI's decision to include mainland shares in some of its indexes, while Latin American names helped the...Read More

LJUBLJANA, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Slovenia plans to reduce its public debt to a little more than 70 percent of gross domestic product this year, the Ministry of Finance told Reuters on Tuesday.The government wants to cut debt to 32.5 billion euros($38.78 billion), or 71.7 percent of GDP. Last year, debt fell to 75.2 percent of GDP from 78.5 percent in 2016, according to the October finance ministry est...Read More

SHANGHAI, Jan 9 (SMM) – SMM surveys major Chinese producers in the base metals market every month to get first-hand production data. The following table shows the latest output in December and our forecast for January.CopperChina’s copper output rose in December as some large producers looked to hit their annual production target at the year-end. Qingyuan Jiangxi Copper and Shandong Hu...Read More