(Update prices)JOHANNESBURG, Feb 2 (Reuters) - South Africa's main stock index ended lower on Friday, wrapping up its worst week in two years as an extended bull run loses steam, while the rand dropped two percent after strong U.S. jobs data lifted the dollar. The blue-chip JSE Top-40 index fell 1 percent to 51,908 points, bringing losses this week to 4.8 percent - the biggest weekly decline sinc...Read More

* U.S. 10-year yield hits 4-year peak, 2-year highest since 2008* Year-over-year U.S. wage growth strongest since 2009* U.S. 2-year, 10-year part of yield curve steepest since November (Updates market action, adds quote)By Richard LeongNEW YORK, Feb 2 (Reuters) - A strong payrolls report on Friday raised concerns the Federal Reserve might hasten to increase interest rates to stem inflation, compou...Read More

Deckers Outdoor Corp (NYSE:DECK) is up 5.7% to trade at $92.26 this morning, after the UGG maker delivered fiscal third-quarter earnings and sales that beat expectations. The company cited tax reform as a contributor to the earnings beat. As a result, no fewer than seven brokerage firms chimed in with price-target hikes, including Canaccord Genuity's hike to $110 -- a 19% premium to the stock's c...Read More

Sprint Corp (NYSE:S) is set to end the week on a high note, with the stock up 4.4% to trade at $5.32 on the heels of a well-received earnings report. The wireless carrier reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $7.16 billion, or $1.79 per share, on net operating revenue of $8.24 billion. On an adjusted basis, Sprint earned 3 cents per share. By contrast, analysts were bracing for a quarterly los...Read More

* U.S. dollar rises after jobs data* Euro falls against greenback* Yen inversely tracks with U.S. bond yields (New throughout; updates prices, market activity, changes byline, dateline, previously LONDON)By Stephanie KellyNEW YORK, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar rose on Friday against a number of currencies including the Japanese yen and the euro after strong national jobs data, but investors w...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices are solidly lower and have hit newdaily lows in late-morning trading Friday. An upbeat U.S. jobs report hasrallied the U.S. dollar index, which has in turn pressured the entire rawcommodity sector, including the precious metals markets. However, the U.S.stock market is also in a significant sell-off late this week, despite theupbeat U.S.economic news (The sto...Read More

* Japanese utilities snap up cargoes for Feb, March - traders* Temperatures set to dip lower in Japan, South Korea* Supply from Cove Point could weigh on prices By Jessica Jaganathan and Oleg Vukmanovic SINGAPORE, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Asian spot LNG prices eased further this week on expectations of reduced buying but plunging temperatures in Japan, South Korea and China prevented a steep price decli...Read More

Feb 2 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index , ended the week over 10 percent lower on Friday, as rates fell across all vessel segments, pushing the index to near 6-month lows.* The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, fell 19 points, or 1.71 percent, at 1,095 points, touching its lowest level since Aug. 10 last yea...Read More

* TSX down 127.48 points, or 0.8 percent, to 15,733.44* All of the TSX's 10 main groups were trading lower TORONTO, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Friday as weakness in commodity prices fueled a decline in shares of the heavyweight natural resource sectors.U.S. crude prices were down 1.6 percent to $64.77 a barrel, while Brent crude lost 1.9 percent to $68.36. The energy grou...Read More

The tech sector is in focus today, after industry heavyweights Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reported earnings last night. Here's a quick earnings roundup for GOOGL, AMZN, and AAPL, and how the FAANG stocks are reacting.Susquehanna Targets 25% Upside for GOOGL StockAlphabet reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter profit of $9.70 per s...Read More

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 2 (Reuters) - South Africa's central bank has fined China Construction Bank (CCB) 75 million rand ($6 million) for non-compliance with the country's financial intelligence act, it said on Friday."It should be noted that the administrative sanctions were not imposed because CCB was found to have facilitated transactions involving money laundering or the financing of terrorism...Read More

(Adds detail)DUBLIN, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank is normalising policy and whether it ends asset buys in September or winds them down gradually is not a major issue, French central bank chief Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Friday.Having bought over 2 trillion euros worth of bonds, the ECB is now contemplating whether to wind down the scheme known as quantitative easing after...Read More

Mobile network firm Nokia Oyj (NYSE:NOK) is moving higher again today, just one session after reporting stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and a positive outlook for 2018. The tech stock has garnered a slew of positive analyst attention today, including an upgrade to "buy" from "neutral" at MKM Partners and five price-target raises. MKM's target hike, to $7.50 from $5.50, represents th...Read More

TORONTO, March 10 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index declined on Friday as weakness in commodity prices fueled a decline in shares of the heavyweight natural resource sectors. At 9:40 AM EST (1440 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index fell 101.84 points, or 0.64 percent, to 15,759.08. (Reporting by John Tilak Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)Keywords: MARKETS STOCKS/CANADA D...Read More

(Adds reaction from bond holders)By Francesco CanepaFRANKFURT, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Spain's Banco Popular could have been worth more than a billion euros when it was sold to larger rival Santander for just one euro in June, the independent valuation used by authorities to inform the sale showed on Friday.Saddled with bad debt and facing a run on its deposits,Popular became the first bank to be wound...Read More

Stock futures are pointed dramatically lower this morning, with Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures trading nearly 226 points below fair value after today's nonfarm payrolls report. The U.S. added a stronger-than-forecast 200,000 jobs in January -- and the report appears to have cemented expectations for another rate hike sooner rather than later, with 10-year Treasury yields surging to a...Read More

BRATISLAVA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Slovakia will offer two bonds maturing in 2031 and 2047 in auctions on Feb. 19, debt management agency ARDAL said on Friday.The indicated amount in the competitive round of the auction is seen at 80 million euros for each paper.A top-up round will follow on Feb. 20.(Reporting by Tatiana Jancarikova; Editing by Jason Hovet) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this arti...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold and silver markets are trading solidly lower in early U.S. trading Friday,following a better-than-expected U.S. jobs report that boosted the U.S. dollarindex. Both metals’ prices were close to steady just before the important daterelease. April Comex gold futures were last down $10.90 an ounce at $1,337.10.March Comex silver was last down $0.235 at $16.925 an ounce.Frida...Read More

BEIJING, Feb 2 (Reuters) - HNA-Caissa Travel Group Co Ltd , a unit of China's beleaguered HNA Group , said on Friday it would scrap its share private placement plan mainly due to changes in regulations and market conditions. HNA-Caissa Travel had planned to raise up to 3.09 billion yuan ($492 million) via the private placement, which it had revised three times from an original plan for up to 8.0 b...Read More

Mining Capital's Alastair Ford chats about how ongoing strength in the global economy is powering mining, with mining company share prices doing well compared to a few years ago.Two elements contributing to this are more demand for metals and how much they can sell metals for -- a weaker dollar is contributing to higher metals prices.Small gold operations in the market need to factor in how sterli...Read More