China is considering devaluing the yuan in order to gain an edge in the trade war. Gold is trading near daily highs close to the $1,333.80 resistance. Gold is trading at around $1,332.94 virtually unchanged on Monday as the trade war escalation between the US and China intensify. China announced that it is evaluating the potential effect of a progressive yuan devaluation in order to gain a compe...Read More

Five Healthcare giants, including insurers, are teaming up to for a pilot project to use blockchain to improve healthcare data.Despite the fact that they are competitors in this space, Humana, MultiPlan, Optum, Quest Diagnostics and UnitedHealthcare announced that this new blockchain-infused proje...Read full newsRead More

By Karen BrettellApril 9 (Reuters) - The forward curve of swaps based onFederal Reserve rate expectations has inverted slightly,indicating that market participants are concerned about the U.S.central bank making a policy mistake, analysts at JPMorgan saidin a report.The forward curve of the one-month overnight index swap(OIS) rate has inverted slightly after the first quarter of2020, implying an e...Read More

** Shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc, which owns theNew York Stock Exchange, up 1.7 pct at $71.83** Cannot "rule out starting futures contracts on digitalcurrencies" - Bloomberg reports ** "There is a trend here we can't ignore in my mind, so Idon't discount it" - CEO Jeffrey Sprecher tells Bbg ( ) ** Bitcoin trading down ~4 pct at $6746.81 on theLuxembourg-based Bitstamp...Read More

China is continuing its long-running assault on the US dollar as the world's global reserve currency.The PetroDollar is backed by US Treasuries, which helps fuel US government deficit spending. Take that support away and the US dollar is in serious trouble. It looks like that.Gold closing this coming week above $1337 is going to activate the price momentum into a bullish camp that is indicating ta...Read More

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Financial firms representing more than $1 trillion in assets under management have endorsed a U.S. regulator’s plan to test limiting the rebates and other incentives that stock exchanges can pay to brokers, a practice critics say creates conflicts of interest.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed a two-year pilot program in March that would force exchanges...Read More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg told Congress on Monday that the social media network should have done more to prevent itself and its members’ data being misused and offered a broad apology to lawmakers.His conciliatory tone precedes two days of Congressional hearings where Zuckerberg is set to answer questions about Facebook user data being improperly app...Read More

April 10 (Reuters) -Stock MarketsNet ChngStock MarketsNet Chng S&P/ASX 200** 5,808.70 20.00 NZX 50**8,454.13 60.86 DJIA24,323.78391.02NIKKEI**21,678.26110.74 Nasdaq7,056.453141.34FTSE**7,194.75 11.11 S&P 500 2,649.35 44.88 Hang Seng** 30,229.58384.64 SPI 200 Fut 5,818.00 25.00 STI** 3,449.96 7.46 SSEC**3,139.33 8.2164KOSPI** 2,444.08 14.50 --------------------------------------------------...Read More

(The Day Ahead is an email and PDF publication that includes the day's majorstories and events, analyses and other features. To receive The Day Ahead, Eikonusers can register at . Thomson One users can register at RT/DAY/US. Alltimes in ET/GMT)Facebook Inc CEO Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to testify before a joint hearingof the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Commerce Committee regarding the...Read More

(Adds background, reaction)April 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department will allowGerman drugs and pesticides group Bayer AG to acquireMonsanto Co in a $62.5 billion deal, after the companiesagreed to sell more assets to win antitrust approval, the WallStreet Journal reported on Monday.Shares of Monsanto, the world's biggest seed company,approached a four-year high on the news, before closing u...Read More

* WSJ reports Bayer reaches agreement in principle with DOJ * Bayer declines to comment* Bayer shares up 4.7 pct, Monsanto rises 6.2 pct (Adds Bayer shares, analyst comment, BASF declines comment)FRANKFURT, April 10 (Reuters) - Bayer sharesjumped nearly 5 percent on Tuesday following a media report thatthe U.S. Justice Department will allow the German drugs andpesticides group to acquire Monsanto...Read More

* US 2-10 yield curve flattening keeps USD heavy & EUR/USD stays firm * EUR/USD holds just below day's high & near 21-DSMA and daily cloud top * Daily RSI biased up, suggests further gains are likely * 55-DSMA & April 2 high are hurdles for bulls, if cleared stops likely run * Rise likely intensifies, little to stop bulls until Mar 28 & 27 highs Disclaimer: The views expressed in...Read More

The RSX ETF is pacing for its worst day in yearsNew U.S. sanctions against Russia are sinking the VanEck Vectors Russia ETF (RSX), along with several stocks with Russian ties, including internet issue and Uber partner Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX). In addition, the sanctions froze the U.S. assets of Russian aluminum company Rusal, lifting shares of American aluminum producers like Alcoa Corp (NYSE:AA)....Read More

** Ironwood Pharmaceuticals shares up 15.4 pct to$16.57 in Mon trading; shares on track for biggest single-daypercentage gain since Jan 2014 ** Biotech co says notified that activist hedge fund SarissaCapital Management intends to nominate its chief investmentofficer Alex Denner to Ironwood board** "Our initial reaction is positive based on having knownDenner for more than a decade and given...Read More

By Miguel GutierrezMEXICO CITY, April 9 (Reuters) - Mexico's central bank isseen keeping its benchmark interest rate steady later this weeksince the pace of inflation has started trending slower, aReuters poll published on Monday shows.Of the 21 analysts surveyed, 18 expected the Banco de Mexicoto hold the rate steady at 7.50 percent, anine-year high touched in the last monetary policy meeting inF...Read More

** Revenue growth reported by U.S. companies for Q1 shouldbenefit from a weaker trade-weighted U.S. dollar ,according to Goldman Sachs analysts ** The dollar in last qtr was 8 pct below its avg in Q1 of2017, they wrote in a note ** "Historically, a weaker U.S. dollar has resulted inabove-average sales beats," they wrote ** Also say, "strong top-line growth is consistent withsolid ec...Read More

** Monsanto shares jump as much as 7.6 pct in heavyvols on WSJ report that U.S. DoJ clears merger with Bayer ; Bayer ADRs also spike higher in volume ** The Justice Department has decided to allow Bayer to buyMonsanto after the companies pledged to sell off additionalassets to secure government antitrust approval, WSJ reports** DoJ declined comment, a Bayer spokesman was notimmediately available f...Read More

MOSCOW (Reuters) - An escalation in U.S. sanctions against Moscow risks derailing a fragile recovery in Russia’s economy, which had just begun to take hold after the Kremlin’s last confrontation with the West in 2014, analysts and investors said on Monday.The United States imposed major new sanctions against Russia on Friday, striking at senior Russian officials and some of the country...Read More

April 9 (Reuters) - German drug and crop chemicals makerBayer's $62.5 billion bid to acquire U.S. seedscompany Monsanto Co has won approval from the U.S.Justice Department, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.The Department of Justice declined to comment. A spokesmanfor Bayer was not immediately available for comment.Monstanto's shares jumped 7 percen...Read More

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austrian property investor Rene Benko has raised his stake in real estate group S Immo (SIAG.VI) to 29.1 percent of voting rights, just shy of the 30 percent threshold that requires a mandatory takeover offer, S Immo said on Monday.Benko bought a 7.3 percent stake from insurance company VIG (VIGR.VI), S Immo said, without disclosing a purchase price.Benko’s move comes week...Read More