LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union told Britain on Friday there were still too many unanswered questions over Brexit, increasing the pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May as she tries to unite her government over plans to leave the bloc.As the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier warned that time was running out, May convened talks on Friday at her Chequers country reside...Read More

MGX Minerals President and CEO Jared LazersonDemand from electric vehicles is blowing up lithium mining.In 2015, 174,000 tonnes of lithium worth $1.2 billion were mined.While the lithium-ion battery was invented 25 years earlier, the mineral hardly made headlines and output was controlled by four large primary producers (as it is today) operating largely out of sight in the high Andes and West Au...Read More

Put volume has ramped up on auto stock F todayOptions volume has been light overall this holiday week, but one stock drawing major attention from traders today is Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F). Nearly 36,000 puts have changed hands, with volume on pace to more than double the automaker's daily average of about 19,000 contracts. Conversely, today's F call volume of 16,719 contracts represents about h...Read More

ROME (Reuters) - The Italian government has embarked on “positive” discussions with the European Commission over 2019 budget goals and it is “far too early” to indicate what any new deficit target might be, a Treasury source said on Friday.Earlier on Friday, Reuters quoted two Treasury sources as saying the government planned to raise next year’s deficit target to aro...Read More

MAIQUETIA, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela’s domestic airline industry is struggling to maintain operations due to hyperinflation and shortages of spare parts, according to an industry association, making it increasingly hard to obtain tickets and causing chronic flight delays.The domestic air fleet has shrunk 80 percent since 2014 to around 20 functioning aircraft, the Venezuelan air indust...Read More

   •  Once again fails to breakthrough a bullish flag chart pattern formation on the 1-hourly chart, despite the post-NFP USD weakness and persistent trade war fears.     •  With short-term technical indicators starting to lose their positive momentum, repeated rejection at higher levels now seems to suggest a possible retest of 100-hour SMA support. &n...Read More

Gold futures settled lower Friday, but still notched a slight gain for the week, after a mostly upbeat U.S. jobs report was seen keeping the Federal Reserve on a path toward gradually higher interest rates. Beyond the day's data, the latest lobs in the trade spat between the U.S. and China took effect Friday as expected, casting a somewhat cautious tone across riskier financial markets including U...Read More

Gold futures settled lower Friday, but still notched a slight gain for the week, after a mostly upbeat U.S. jobs report was seen keeping the Federal Reserve on a path toward gradually higher interest rates. Beyond the day's data, the latest lobs in the trade spat between the U.S. and China took effect Friday as expected, casting a somewhat cautious tone across riskier financial markets including U...Read More

(Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose to two-week highs on Friday as strong U.S. jobs growth and a surge in Biogen’s shares helped ease fears of an escalating U.S.-China trade dispute.Biogen rose as much as 15.7 percent and was set for its biggest percentage gain in over a decade after the company and Japanese drugmaker Eisai Co said their Alzheimer’s drug showed promise in a...Read More

LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump would like a quick trade deal with Britain once Brexit is finished, the U.S. ambassador to Britain said on Friday ahead of a presidential visit to London next week that will keep Trump largely away from planned mass protests.Trump arrives in Britain on Thursday after a NATO summit in Belgium that could turn contentious over the U.S. leader&rsquo...Read More

Gannett put options are flying off the shelves after a downgradeThe Dow is higher today, as an upbeat jobs report overshadows new tariffs between the U.S. and China. Three stocks making big moves today are newspaper titan Gannett Co Inc (NYSE:GCI), biopharmaceutical issue AC Immune SA (NASDAQ:ACIU), and digital communications concern Black Box Corporation (NASDAQ:BBOX). Below, we will take a close...Read More

GENEVA (Reuters) - China, Russia and Pakistan lost their bid on Friday to weaken a U.N. resolution upholding the crucial rule of activists in shedding an international spotlight on human rights violations, campaigners said.The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution calling on all states to protect civil society groups from threats and intimidation, and prosecute reprisals against...Read More

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil was mixed on Friday, with short-covering pushing up U.S. crude futures while Brent slipped on global trade tensions and increased Saudi production.West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 gained 61 cents to $73.55 by 11:30 a.m. (1530 GMT). Global benchmark Brent LCOc1 was down 39 cents at $77 a barrel.For the week, WTI was on track for a loss of about 0.4 percent while B...Read More

By Ben St. Clair LONDON--Gold prices ticked down Friday, as risk appetite failed to materialize despite an escalation in trade tensions between the U.S. and China. The precious metal was down 0.26% at $12,54.51 a troy ounce in late morning trade, threatening the metal's modest gains this week. Copper, meanwhile, also edged down by 0.36% to $6,301 a metric ton. U.S. tariffs on $34 billion of Ch...Read More

Platinum, with its price close to the lowest level in nearly a decade, might soon attract the interest of bargain hunters. "Platinum has some significant upside potential from current levels, as a result of its overall industrial usage and within autos," says Ed Egilinsky, managing director of Direxion. "Platinum currently trading both below gold and palladium makes it attractive from a pure price...Read More

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Friday as stronger-than-expected jobs growth in June and a surge in Biogen’s shares eased concerns about an escalating U.S.-China trade dispute after the two economies slapped tariffs on each other’s imports worth $34 billion.Biogen jumped 15.6 percent and was on track for its biggest percentage gain in over seven years after the company and Japanese dru...Read More

LONDON (Reuters) - S&P Global warned on Friday that it could downgrade Mexico’s BBB+ credit rating if there was a “retreat” from the NAFTA trade pact that it shares with the United States and Canada.A retreat wouldn’t necessarily mean a complete scrapping of NAFTA but it would mean changes that lessen its benefits, one of S&P’s top sovereign analysts, Joydeep...Read More

LONDON (Reuters) - The global economy is starting to show signs of strain from the “America First” push of U.S President Donald Trump who will hear renewed pleas to step back from a broader trade war when he visits Europe in the coming week.Against a crescendo of measures and counter-measures, and threats of more to come, caution about investment is growing among employers in many coun...Read More

* US payrolls push down U.S, German yields* Euro zone yields lower across the board* U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods take effect* Euro zone periphery govt bond yields tmsnrt.rs/2ii2Bqr (Rewrites to reflect moves after U.S. payroll data)By Dhara Ranasinghe and Abhinav RamnarayanLONDON, July 6 (Reuters) - Euro zone government bond yields gave up their gains after payroll data in the United States sh...Read More

The VIX is pacing for its worst week in monthsThe Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) sports a triple-digit gain at midday, as an outstanding jobs report for the month of June offsets trade tensions stemming from the tariff "merry-go-round" between the U.S. and China. Barring any last-minute debacles, the Dow, S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) are all on track for weekly wins.In a...Read More