PARIS (Reuters) - The United States has rejected a French request for waivers for its companies operating in Iran that Paris sought after President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told Le Figaro.Paris had singled out key areas where it expected either exemptions or extended wind-down periods for French companies, including energy, bank...Read More

LONDON (Reuters) - World stocks rose for a second consecutive week on Friday as investors prepared for an expected run of strong earnings in the United States, although fears about the U.S.-China trade conflict kept gains in check and pushed the dollar higher.Expectations of a bumper U.S. earnings season and news that China’s overall global export growth beat expectations led European shares...Read More

(Reuters) - Citigroup Inc’s (C.N) quarterly profit topped Wall Street estimates on Friday, helped by strength in its consumer banking business in Mexico, North America and Asia.The third-largest U.S. bank by assets, like its peers, also benefited from a cut in income tax rates and an expanding U.S. economy that fueled demand for loans.Net income rose to $4.49 billion in the second quarter en...Read More

JPM shares are pointed higher in electronic tradingU.S. stock futures are trading mixed this morning, as traders react to second-quarter earnings out of the financial sector. While shares of Citigroup (C) are sliding before the open, blue chip JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is ticking higher thanks to a record-breaking earnings release. On the economic front, Wall Street is digesting a sharp drop in June im...Read More

Ecuador-focused miner SolGold (LON:SOLG) (TSX:SOLG) said Friday it had intersected copper and gold deposits while drilling at Alpala and Aguinaga prospects its 85%-owned Cascabel copper-gold project, in northern Ecuador.Extension drilling at Alpala Central was expected to extend the high-grade mineralization along the lower and northeast margins of the deposit, located about 180 km north of the...Read More

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - U.S. import prices recorded their biggest drop in more than two years in June as prices for petroleum products fell and a strong dollar weighed on the costs of other goods.The Labor Department said on Friday import prices fell 0.4 percent last month, the largest decline since February 2016. Data for May was revised to show import prices increasing 0.9 percent instead of ris...Read More

Ecuador-focused miner SolGold (LON:SOLG) (TSX:SOLG) said Friday it had intersected copper and gold deposits while drilling at Alpala and Aguinaga prospects its 85%-owned Cascabel copper-gold project, in northern Ecuador.Extension drilling at Alpala Central was expected to extend the high-grade mineralization along the lower and northeast margins of the deposit, located about 180 km north of the...Read More

(Reuters) - Shares of AT&T Inc fell 1.8 percent in trading before the bell on Friday after the U.S. Justice Department said it would appeal a federal judge’s approval of the telecommunication network’s acquisition of Time Warner.The $85.4 billion deal, first announced in October 2016, was opposed by President Donald Trump. AT&T was sued by the Justice Department on antitrust gr...Read More

Ecuador-focused miner SolGold (LON:SOLG) (TSX:SOLG) said Friday it had intersected copper and gold deposits while drilling at Alpala and Aguinaga prospects its 85%-owned Cascabel copper-gold project, in northern Ecuador.Extension drilling at Alpala Central was expected to extend the high-grade mineralization along the lower and northeast margins of the deposit, located about 180 km north of the...Read More

Ecuador-focused miner SolGold (LON:SOLG) (TSX:SOLG) said Friday it had intersected copper and gold deposits while drilling at Alpala and Aguinaga prospects its 85%-owned Cascabel copper-gold project, in northern Ecuador.Extension drilling at Alpala Central was expected to extend the high-grade mineralization along the lower and northeast margins of the deposit, located about 180 km north of the...Read More

Ecuador-focused miner SolGold (LON:SOLG) (TSX:SOLG) said Friday it had intersected copper and gold deposits while drilling at Alpala and Aguinaga prospects its 85%-owned Cascabel copper-gold project, in northern Ecuador.Extension drilling at Alpala Central was expected to extend the high-grade mineralization along the lower and northeast margins of the deposit, located about 180 km north of the...Read More

McKinsey tracked 2.8 per cent per annum increase in productivity between 2014 and 2016 mostly due to mines reducing headcounts and limiting spending, says the consultancy in a study published last month.Data is still pending, but McKinsey believes the productivity trend is continuing.McKinsey measures mine productivity using its MineLens Productivity Index, a measure of physical mining output, emp...Read More

McKinsey tracked 2.8 per cent per annum increase in productivity between 2014 and 2016 mostly due to mines reducing headcounts and limiting spending, says the consultancy in a study published last month.Data is still pending, but McKinsey believes the productivity trend is continuing.McKinsey measures mine productivity using its MineLens Productivity Index, a measure of physical mining output, emp...Read More

As gold continues to gethammered, there doesn't appear to be any new money buyers willing to step inhere. This morning gold traded as low as $1,236. As we wrote yesterday, the keylevels are 1,235-$1,240. Failure here could lead to $1,200 and below.The trading action has been aboutas ugly as it can be, basically straight down about $120 with hardly a rally.We can blame economic data, the strong dol...Read More

CHEQUERS, England (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Friday he had a very strong relationship with British Prime Minister Theresa May, having earlier scorned her Brexit strategy which he said had probably killed off hope for a future U.S.-British trade deal.In an interview published just hours before he was due to have lunch with May and tea with Queen Elizabeth on Friday, Trump chided the...Read More

As gold continues to get hammered, there doesn't appear to be any new money buyers willing to step in here. This morning gold traded as low as $1,236. As we wrote yesterday, the key levels are 1,235-$1,240. Failure here could lead to $1,200 and below. The trading action has been about as ugly as it can be, basically straight down about $120 with hardly a rally. We can blame economic data, the stro...Read More

(Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) on Friday posted a 12 percent decline in second-quarter profit, as loans fell and expenses rose.Net income applicable to common stock fell to $4.79 billion, or 98 cents per share, in the quarter ended June 30, from $5.45 billion, or $1.08 per share a year ago.Analysts on average expected $1.12 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It was not imme...Read More

Hecla Mining Co.’s (NYSE: HL) chief executive says the company’s mine output toppedits expectations during the second quarter. Hecla reports silverproduction of 2.6 million ounces, down slightly from 2.8 million in the sameperiod a year ago. Gold production rose to 60,313 ounces from 52,561. Heclaalso mines some base metals as a by-product. Silver-equivalent productiontotaled 10.5 mill...Read More

Hecla Mining Co.’s (NYSE: HL) chief executive says the company’s mine output topped its expectations during the second quarter. Hecla reports silver production of 2.6 million ounces, down slightly from 2.8 million in the same period a year ago. Gold production rose to 60,313 ounces from 52,561. Hecla also mines some base metals as a by-product. Silver-equivalent production totaled 10.5...Read More

   •  Persistent USD buying interest prompts some fresh selling on Friday.   •  Fed rate hike prospects/fading safe-haven demand adds to the selling bias. Gold came under some renewed selling pressure on Friday and has now erased all of its modest recovery gains recorded in the previous session. The US Dollar extended recent gains, now holding near 10-day to...Read More