JOHANNESBURG, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Glencore on Thursday said copper output in 2018 should rise to nearly 1.5 million tonnes as its Katanga mine in Democratic Republic of Congo ramps up to add roughly 150,000 tonnes, as well as 11,600 tonnes of cobalt.During the commodities crash in 2015, Glencore reduced output of commodities including zinc and copper and shut its Katanga operation in Congo for an up...Read More

Feb 2 (Reuters) - Stock MarketsNet ChngStock MarketsNet ChngS&P/ASX 200** 6,090.10 52.40 NZX 50**8,383.87 -58.14DJIA26,293.82144.43NIKKEI**23,486.11387.82Nasdaq7,438.60227.12 FTSE**7,490.39 -43.16S&P 500 2,835.53 11.72 Hang Seng** 32,642.09-245.18SPI 200 Fut 6,032.0-4.0STI** 3,547.23 13.24SSEC**3,446.24 -34.59KOSPI** 2,568.54 2.08------------------------------------------------------------...Read More

(Adds comments from conference call)Feb 1 (Reuters) - U.S. health insurer Cigna Corp on Thursday weighed in on the debate on soaring U.S. healthcare prices, saying it had cut the medical cost growth rate for its corporate customers in 2017 to half that of rivals, but the pace was still unsustainable.The comments came during mounting concern about medical costs, whose growth typically runs several...Read More

(Adds more detail)By Huw JonesFeb 1 (Reuters) - The Bank of England said it has begun simulating stress scenarios in "stretched" bond markets to see if they risk undermining financial stability, though no proven problem has been uncovered so far.Alex Brazier, the BoE's executive director for financial stability strategy and risk, said market-based finance is a "next frontier"...Read More

(Adds details, background)NEW YORK, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. economy is setting a torrid pace in the first three months of 2018, putting it on track to notch its best quarter since late 2009, a forecast model from the Atlanta Federal Reserve showed on Thursday. Gross domestic product, the government's broadest economic gauge, is on track to grow at a 5.4 percent annualized rate in the first qua...Read More

Ferrari N.V. (NYSE:RACE) is trading up 7.2% today at $128.15 after the company said 2017 was a record year, while announcing plans to double its core earnings by 2022. This brings the stock's one-year gain to 107% and it earlier traded at a record high of $129.87. In the meantime, RACE shares have been crushing short sellers, who've continued betting against the equity in recent months. Looking cl...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold Prices wereending the U.S. day session with scant gains Thursday. A continued erosion ofthe U.S. dollar in the foreign exchange markets worked to support the yellowmetal on this day. April Comex gold futures were last up $1.60 an ounce at$1,344.80. March Comex silver was last down $0.136 at $17.11 an ounce.Therewas a very heavy dose of U.S. economic data released Thursday. Howe...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold Prices were ending the U.S. day session with scant gains Thursday. A continued erosion of the U.S. dollar in the foreign exchange markets worked to support the yellow metal on this day. April Comex gold futures were last up $1.60 an ounce at $1,344.80. March Comex silver was last down $0.136 at $17.11 an ounce.There was a very heavy dose of U.S. economic data released Thursday....Read More

* Microsoft, Facebook gain after upbeat earnings reports* Bank stocks buoyed by hawkish Fed comments* UPS falls as higher costs hurt profit* Apple, Alphabet, Amazon to report after the bell* Indexes up: Dow 0.54 pct, S&P 0.35 pct, Nasdaq 0.25 pct (Updates to early afternoon)By Tanya AgrawalFeb 1 (Reuters) - Wall Street rose in early afternoon trading on Thursday, reversing from earlier losses,...Read More

By Karen BrettellNEW YORK, Feb 1 (Reuters) - An industry group representing the privately traded derivatives markets may challenge new rules requiring that more capital be used to back the trades, arguing that the requirements place them at a disadvantage to trading futures contracts.Capital rules adopted by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and U.S. bank regulators in 2015, which are being...Read More

LONDON (Reuters) - Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, skidded 11 percent on Thursday to its lowest since November, as a Facebook ban on cryptocurrency adverts and a growing regulatory backlash against the nascent market frightened investors.Thursday's drop to as low as $9,022 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange BTC=BTSP left bitcoin trading at less than half the peak price o...Read More

ABUJA, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Nigeria's president nominated a central bank veteran to be a deputy governor of the bank, the presidency said on Thursday, in a move to fill vacant posts after the bank cancelled an interest rate setting meeting last month due to a lack of members.President Muhammadu Buhari nominated Edward Adamu, with over two decades experience at the central bank, to replace Sulaiman Ba...Read More

Stephen O'Hara, chief executive of OptiBiotix Health plc (LON:OPTI) tells Proactive's Andrew Scott the big focus for them now is on the commercialisation of their technology across the company's platforms.''2018 has started off very, very well'', O'Hara says.He mentions they'll be presenting next week at ProBiota in Barcelona - a leading conference attended by the movers and shakers of the industr...Read More

* GRAPHIC-2018 asset returns: * LME/ShFE arb: (Adds closing prices, details)By Maytaal AngelLONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Lead hit its highest in 6-1/2 years on Thursday, catching up with sister metal zinc, as a harsh winter in the United States and China hits supplies and as Beijing continues to restrict output on environmental grounds.London Metal Exchange (LME) lead hit $2,668 a tonne, its highest...Read More

(Kitco News) - 2018 may see metals leading commodities, buoyed by strengthin gold, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence report. The report said that the yellow metal, which has outperformedBitcoin since mid-December, 2017, is “coiled to move” and should testresistance levels of $1,400, unless key drivers reverse. “Off to a good startin 2018, indications are there’s more to...Read More

It’s remarkable how the Dollar remains depressed and unloved, despite the Federal Reserve expressing optimism over increased inflationary pressures as the year moves on. Although the U.S. Federal Reserve left rates unchanged as expected in January, the relatively upbeat appraisal of the economy and rising inflation expectations offered a hawkish touch. The fact that the Dollar remains pressu...Read More

FRANKFURT, Feb 1 (Reuters) - German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Thursday warned the financial sector that it had a responsibility to prevent speculation and the formation of trading bubbles in the cryptocurrency market.Steinmeier told about 1,000 guests at a Deka Bank event in Frankfurt that a new debate was needed about regulating cryptocurrencies, given recent gyrations in their valuati...Read More

Feb 1 (Reuters) - The Bank of England said it has begun simulating stresses in "stretched" bond markets to see if they risk undermining financial stability.Alex Brazier, the BoE's executive director for financial stability strategy and risk, said the Bank is turning its sights to market-based finance as companies issue far more bonds to raise funds than they did before the financial cris...Read More

Las Vegas, NV - Barrick Gold Corporation has joined forces with Cisco, Switch and Unearthed to provide Nevada's innovation and tech community with a premier opportunity to build skills, scale ventures and engage with great talent."Barrick is excited to host the state's first global mining hackathon in Las Vegas," said Michael Brown, President, Barrick USA. "We are at the forefront of transforming...Read More

(Adds Viacom board discussing special committee)Feb 1 (Reuters) - CBS Corp's board is set to discuss a merger with Viacom Inc on Thursday, sources have told Reuters, possibly starting the process of reuniting the two media companies split by mogul Sumner Redstone more than a decade ago.Such a deal, which is being pushed by Redstone's daughter Shari, would combine the CBS broadcast network with Vi...Read More