(Adds President Temer's appeal to Congress to approve bill, lower house speaker wants vote in February)By Maria Carolina MarcelloBRASILIA, Feb 5 (Reuters) - President Michel Temer appealed to Congress on Monday to approve his pension reform proposal to bring Brazil's budget deficit under control, but a cabinet minister said his government still lacks some 40 votes to pass the unpopular bill.Congr...Read More

The meteoric rise of crypto-currencies, including Bitcoin, captured the attention of many precious metals investors last year. Crypto’s potential to serve as private and decentralized currency – beyond the reach of bankers (central and otherwise) to corrupt and control – is an alluring combination for some speculative members of “honest money” crowd. Investors are cur...Read More

TORONTO, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index slumped to a 4-1/2-month low on Monday as a global selloff and weakness in energy prices hit investor sentiment.Marijuana companies were among the most heavily traded stocks on the index.* At 4:45PM ET (21:45 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index fell 271.22 points, or 1.74 percent, to 15,334.81. All of the sectors on th...Read More

Lewis Krauskopf(Reuters) - U.S. stocks plunged in highly volatile trading on Monday, with the Dow industrials falling nearly 1,600 points during the session, its biggest intraday decline in history, as investors grappled with rising bond yields and potentially firming inflation.The benchmark S&P 500 and the Dow suffered their biggest percentage drops since August 2011 as a long-awaited pullbac...Read More

(Repeats story from overnight, no changes to text)LONDON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Activist investor Elliott Advisors on Monday stepped up calls for the world's biggest mining company BHPto scrap its dual listing, demanding the company agree to review the matter by the time it posts results on Feb. 20.Elliott has previously urged BHP to change its structure, with listings in both Britain and Australia,...Read More

* Dow, S&P 500 post biggest daily percent drops since Aug 2011* 10-year Treasury yields recede from four-year highs* Oil prices fall (Updates with closing U.S. markets' activity)By Caroline ValetkevitchNEW YORK, Feb 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks dropped in a rapid selloff on Monday, with the Dow falling nearly 1,600 points at its low in its biggest intraday point drop in history, while U.S. Treasu...Read More

Feb 6 (Reuters) - Stock MarketsNet ChngStock MarketsNet ChngS&P/ASX 200** 6,026.2-95.2 NZX 50**8,241.83 -173.46DJIA**24,345.75-1,175.21 NIKKEI**22,682.08-592.45Nasdaq**6,967.526-273.42 FTSE**7,334.98 -108.45S&P 500** 2,648.94 -113.19 Hang Seng** 32,245.22-356.56SPI 200 Fut 5,822-139.00 STI** 3,482.93 -46.89SSEC**3,487.3847 25.30 KOSPI** 2,491.75 -33.64--------------------------------------...Read More

Stocks got eviscerated today, with the Dow down nearly 1,600 points at one point. And while the blue-chip index closed off its session lows, it still logged its biggest one-day point loss ever. The second straight session of heavy selling again centered on fears of rising interest rates, while weakness from the energy sector only added to the risk-off backdrop. In fact, the Dow and S&P 500 bothtur...Read More

Feb 6 (Reuters) - Australian shares are set to extend their losses on Tuesday, tracking a similar trend in Wall Street as investors grappled with higher bond yields and the possibility of firming inflation in the United States.Investors were also anticipating retail data from Australia, as well as the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision on the official cash rate.The local share price index future...Read More

TORONTO, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index slumped to its lowest in four and a half months on Monday as a global selloff and weakness in energy prices hit investor sentiment. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index unofficially closed down 271.22 points, or 1.74 percent, to 15,334.81. All of the index's 10 main groups fell. (Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Editing by James D...Read More

(Recasts with Italo statement, details)By Paola ArosioMILAN, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Global Infrastructure Partners III funds (GIP) has presented an offer to buy railway group Italo, the Italian firm said on Monday.The infrastructure fund, the owner of London's Gatwick airport, was ready to pay 1.9 billion euros ($2.4 billion) for the whole railway firm, excluding debt, the railway group said after Reu...Read More

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dow briefly fell more than 10 percent from its Jan. 26 record high on Monday before paring losses to trade above its lows of the day.Both the Dow and S&P 500 were last down more than 3 percent, while the Cboe Volatility index .VIX jumped more than 100 percent on the day and hit its highest since August 2015.The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 938.27 points, or 3...Read More

Latest employment report provides excuse for gold profit-taking.That same report contains seeds of gold's future demand, however.Two-year gold price recovery remains intact despite recent weakness.There's an old saying on Wall Street to the effect that when the stock market is stricken with panic, everything suffers in the ensuing decline. This includes even commodities and other non-equity as...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold prices pushed to session highs late Monday afternoon, as U.S. stocks continued their massive selloff, with both the S&P 500 and the Dow plunging in a matter of minutes.Analysts pointed to a more hawkish Federal Reserve as the catalyst for the move down in equities.“What we are seeing in the market is a reaction to last week — with the Fed changing hands, and a m...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold prices pushed to session highs late Monday afternoon, as U.S. stocks continued their massive selloff, with both the S&P 500 and the Dow plunging in a matter of minutes.Analysts pointed to a more hawkish Federal Reserve as the catalyst for the move down in equities.“What we are seeing in the market is a reaction to last week — with the Fed changing hands, and a m...Read More

* U.S. bond market stabilizes after 10-year yield hits 4-year peak* U.S. services sector strongest in over 12 years -ISM* ECB's Draghi sees risks from currency market volatility* Data show traders build bearish dollar bets in futures market (Updates market action, adds quote)By Richard LeongNEW YORK, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The dollar rose against a basket of currencies on Monday as U.S. bond yields ral...Read More

Kosmos Energy Ltd (LON:KOS) was a faller in late afternoon trading, down 11.4% to 435p after the explorer said tests at the recently completed Requin Tigre-1 exploration well in Senegal failed to detect any hydrocarbons.The main market listed oil and gas exploration and production company said Requin Tigre-1 was drilled to a total depth of 5,200 metres and but the prospect did not yield any hydroc...Read More

ReutersFederal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell takes the oath of office. Jerome Powell officially took the helm of the Federal Reserve Board on Monday, replacing Janet Yellen in a carefully choreographed transition. Powell was sworn in Monday morning in a private ceremony. In a brief video statement posted on the Fed's website, Powell introduced himself to the country. "Hello, this is Jay Powell,...Read More

Agricultural issue Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) is set to report earnings tomorrow morning, and the company could reach an agreement to buy Bunge (BG) as early as this week, according to reports. Below we will take a closer look at how the stock has been faring on the charts, and what the options market is pricing in for its post-earnings action.Archer Daniels Midland stock rallied on...Read More

CARACAS, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Venezuela's central bank on Monday said its new DICOM exchange rate would be at 30,987.5 bolivars per euro in its first auction.DICOM is now the country's only official exchange rate, though on the black market a dollar fetches 228,000 bolivars.Last week, the central bank removed the stronger DIPRO exchange rate of 10 bolivars per dollar.(Reporting by Caracas newsroom; W...Read More