Feb 15 (Reuters) - Australia's top gold miner, Newcrest Mining Ltd, on Thursday reported a 58-percent fall in half-year underlying profit, dragged down by disruptions such as an earthquake hitting one of its key sites earlier in 2017.Underlying profit slid to $116 million in the six months to Dec. 31, down from $273 million the year before and below a forecast of $143 million based on the average...Read More

* Graphic: World FX rates in 2018 * Graphic: Trade-weighted sterling since Brexit vote By Tommy WilkesLONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Sterling gained for the fourth day on the trot against the dollar on Thursday, briefly touching $1.41 on the back of a broadly weakened U.S. currency, with traders eyeing earnings data next week to give the pound fresh momentum.The pound has rallied in 2018 on the back o...Read More

By Bruno FederowskiSAO PAULO, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Latin American markets rose on Thursday as global stocks shrugged off recent losses and traded higher, supporting demand for riskier assets.Currencies and stocks throughout the region rose as global markets recovered from a deep sell-off triggered by figures showing rising U.S. wages. Some investors fear that increased inflationary pressure could dr...Read More

* Output down in Nov-Dec, hitting 2017 GDP* Jan industrial output up 2.9 pct, yr/yr, beating forecasts* Growth may be short-lived, analyst says (Adds details, analysts, background)By Zlata GarasyutaMOSCOW, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Russia's industrial output rose 2.9 percent in January compared with January a year ago, recovering after two months in red, the state statistics service said on Thursday.Anal...Read More

ZAGREB, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Croatia will offer 1.3 billion kuna ($218.13 million) worth of treasury bills at an auction next week, the Finance Ministry said on Thursday.On Feb. 20, the ministry will again offer one-year paper which has been the only paper offered in several recent auctions as well. Occasionally the ministry also offers bills of three-month and six-month maturities as well as those...Read More

(Adds quotes, details)VERONA, Italy, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Italy's largest coffee group Lavazza does not plan to go public for the time being and is still busy integrating the four companies bought in the last three years, its vice president said."Before thinking to new acquisitions we have to consolidate what we have done last year," Marco Lavazza said.Lavazza's acquisition spree has shar...Read More

MOSCOW, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Polyus, Russia's largest gold producer, posted a 7 percent increase in 2017 adjusted net profit to $1.02 billion, the company said on Thursday.The gold producer saw rising sales last year and expects to both invest and produce more in 2018, as it aims to ramp up production at its newly-launched Natalka gold deposit in Russia's far east.In the fourth quarter, Polyus saw a...Read More

It's already been a challenging start to 2018 for Texas-based oil-and-gas stock Newfield Exploration Co. (NYSE:NFX), with the shares down nearly 19% on a year-to-date basis. But if history is any guide, NFX is on the cusp of more heavy losses in the holiday-shortened week ahead.According to data from Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White, NFX stands out as one of the worst-performing...Read More

GOLD (in USD) Bullish momentum. Gold is recovering after its recent strong sell-off. Resistance at 1337 (12/09/2017) is broken, confirming a strong bullish bias. Further resistance at 1358 (08/09/2017) approaches. Supports given at 1306 (04/01/2018 low) and 1290 (16/10/2017) remain. The technical structure suggests further upside moves. In the long-term, the technical structure suggests that...Read More

It was a strange day. Inflation surged yesterday. But gold dropped initially, only to quickly reverse the fall and fly into the air. What happened? And - importantly - will gold soar on the inflation fuel?Inflation rears its ugly head (or tries to, at least)The recent payrolls report showed that wages had jumped 2.9 percent in January on an annual basis. It was the best result since 2009, which aw...Read More

Square Inc (NYSE:SQ) stock is in focus today, after receiving a price-target hike to $43 from $37 at Deutsche Bank. The brokerage firm noted that the payment processing company has solid revenue momentum, and traders are willing to pay for high-profile growth and massive market opportunity. As a result, Square stock is up 3.8% to trade at $43.42 this morning.After touching a record high of $49.56...Read More

(Updates with Romanian auction, prices)* Polish zloty leads gains with 0.3 pct rise vs euro* Helped by comments from EU Commission head - analyst* Romania fails to sell bonds, leu still near record low* Stocks rise following gains across the globe By Marcin GoettigWARSAW, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Weakness in the dollar fuelled gains in most central European currencies on Thursday, with the zloty gettin...Read More

OSLO, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Norway's central bank awarded 12.73 billion Norwegian crowns($1.63 billion) in an F-loan for Feb. 15-20 with a lowest rate of 0.50 percent, it said on Thursday.There was 100 percent awarded at the lowest rate. A total of 12.73 billion crowns was sought by banks.($1 = 7.7911 Norwegian crowns) (Reporting by Oslo newsroom) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are...Read More

Getty ImagesHomebuilder enthusiasm is on the rise. The numbers: The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing market index stayed at 72 in February. That's a very strong reading, and just slightly below December's cycle-high reading of 74, as any reading over 50 indicates "good" performance. What happened: The component on sales expectations in the next six months rose two points...Read More

The accompanying daily chart of Cboe Global Markets (NASDAQ:CBOE) provides a prototype illustration of the most prominent risk of "momentum investing" (even more profoundly highlighted over this past week with the implosion of the inverse volatility exchange-traded funds). Share price action can be strong over lengthy time frames -- sometimes strong enough to result in gains of 100% or more in per...Read More

Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) are up 4.7%to trade at $44.17, hitting a 17-year high of $45.21 out of the gate. The tech firm reported adjusted fiscal second-quarter profit of 63 cents per share on $11.9 billion in revenue -- its first quarterly revenue increase in more than two years, thanks to its shift to software. The results beat expectations, and gave upbeat current-quarter guid...Read More

A handful of pharmaceutical stocks are higher out of the gate today. Among them, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (NYSE:TEVA) is making noise after a big Buffett boost, while the shares of AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAG) are soaring after a nod from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). What's more, an unwinding of skepticism on Wall Street could add fuel to the fire for TEVA and AMAG...Read More

Shares of Shopify Inc (NYSE:SHOP) are in focus this morning as traders react to the e-commerce platform's fourth-quarter earnings report. SHOP announced a net loss of 3 cents per share, with adjusted earnings arriving at 15 cents per share, while revenue jumped 71% to $222.8 million. The results topped analysts' expectations, but SHOP was trading down more than 2% ahead of the market open this mor...Read More

What a day for the bears onWednesday. CPI came out at 8:30 EST, and the equities fell 500 points, gold fell$15 and the dollar spiked. By the end of the day, gold reversed by $50, the Dow by 600 and the dollar got pounded, another beating for the bears.The action looked more like shortcovering as the bears got squeezed again. The excitement is back, and buyersare everywhere, because this time is di...Read More

Stock futures are soaring once again, on track to extend the bullish momentum that fueled yesterday's big gains. While futures tanked early Wednesday in response to hotter-than-forecast inflation data, traders today are shrugging off a 0.4% jump in the producer price index (PPI), which arrived in line with consensus estimates. Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are up over 185 points, whi...Read More