* European stocks close lower* U.S. stocks higher, boosting global shares* Euro, sterling gain while dollar drops (Updates to European market close; adds commentary)By Stephanie KellyNEW YORK, Jan 2 (Reuters) - European stocks closed lower on Tuesday, the first trading day of 2018, while Wall Street advanced and the U.S. dollar fell to its weakest in over three months against key currencies. MSCI'...Read More

BUENOS AIRES, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Argentina collected 235.210 billion pesos ($12.61 billion) in tax revenue in December, the AFIP tax agency said on Tuesday, bringing the total take for 2017 to 2.537 trillion pesos ($136.07 billion). (Reporting by Walter Bianchi; Writing by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Chris Reese) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not re...Read More

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) is starting off the year with an impressive slew of analyst attention, as the athletic apparel stock received no fewer than three price-target raises today. Telsey Advisory Group hiked its forecast to $92 from $84, while J.P. Morgan Securities upped its target to $87 from $79. The third raise, to $88 from $78, came from Citigroup -- despite the brokerage firm...Read More

While Bitcoin remains lower in 2018, down around 2%, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple are surging with ETH breaking to a new record high over $880 following headlines that Russia is exploring ways to create a 'cryptorouble'.Read full newsRead More

The geopolitical risks in 2018 are "easily as bad" as the economic risks in 2008, Eurasia's Ian Bremmer says.This year could see a geopolitical crisis on the scale of the financial crash a decade ago, Eurasia Group warned in its annual outlook.Describing global political challenges as "daunting," the New York-based political risk consultancy said that "if we had to pick one year for a big unexpec...Read More

1. There are very few sellers leftThere were very few sellers left in January 2016 when the devastating "forever bear" was about to end. Six months later and a 150% rebound in the large caps and 200% rise in the juniors (GDXJ) provided sellers an opportunity. They drove the miners and juniors down by 40% to 45% in less than five months. However, both GDX and GDXJ have been able to hold above that...Read More

A total of 68 stations were closed by the Ministry of Commerce and Investment following nation-wide inspections.Read full newsRead More

Kitco News' contributed commentary features articles and opinions from some of the top experts in the gold industry.Read full newsRead More

Russia's oil industry continued its long-term expansion last year, with production hitting a record even as President Vladimir Putin joined forces with OPEC to clear a global glut and lift prices.Read full newsRead More

(Recasts lead paragraph, adds quote)By Richard LeongNEW YORK, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Traders increased their purchases of U.S. three-month Treasury bills at a record-size auction on Tuesday in a sign they expect Congress to reach a deal to raise the debt ceiling by late March.A measure of overall demand at the latest three-month bill sale rebounded to its strongest in a month from its below-average le...Read More

FRANKFURT, Jan 2 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank may end its stimulus programme this year if the euro zone economy continues to grow strongly, ECB rate-setter Ewald Nowotny told a German newspaper.The ECB has said it will buy bonds at least until September and it is widely expected to wind down the 2.55 trillion-euroscheme, the centrepiece of its efforts to revive inflation in the euro zone,...Read More

BEIRUT, LEBANON (8:05 P.M.) - The Syrian Arab Republic has condemned the stances of the U.S. and Israeli regimes in regards to the Iranian protests, an offRead full newsRead More

Companies that make packaging from plants instead of fossil fuels are starting to challenge the oil industry's ambition to increase the supply of raw materials for plastics.Read full newsRead More

Gold is starting the new year on the front foot. Bullion advanced for an eighth session to head for the longest stretch of gains since mid-2011, building on an annual surge.Read full newsRead More

(Bloomberg) - Gold is starting the new year on the front foot. Bullion advanced for an eighth session to head for the longest stretch of gains since mid-2011, building on an annual surge.Bullion for immediate delivery advanced 0.9 percent to $1,315.08 an ounce at 2:15 p.m. in New York, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. Last year, the commodity climbed 14 percent, the best performance in sev...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold prices ended the U.S. day session moderately up and hit a more-than-three-monthhigh Tuesday. Silver made slight gains and hit a five-week high. A slumpingU.S. dollar index that hit a better-than-three-month low today is a bullishelement for the precious metals. Gold and silver markets also saw safe-havendemand come from heightened geopolitical risks. February Comex gold was las...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold prices ended the U.S. day session moderately up and hit a more-than-three-month high Tuesday. Silver made slight gains and hit a five-week high. A slumping U.S. dollar index that hit a better-than-three-month low today is a bullish element for the precious metals. Gold and silver markets also saw safe-haven demand come from heightened geopolitical risks. February Comex gold was...Read More

Dmitry Zhdannikov, Devika Krishna KumarLONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices eased on Tuesday after hitting mid-2015 highs in early trading, as major pipelines in Libya and the UK restarted and U.S production soared to the highest in more than four decades.It was the first time since January 2014 that the two crude oil benchmarks opened the year above $60 per barrel, buoyed by large anti-government rallie...Read More

Huw JonesLONDON (Reuters) - Bankers will work through the night to iron out last minute hitches before Wednesday’s launch of a major reform of European Union financial markets that aims to apply lessons from the financial crisis nearly a decade ago.The new rules are already a year late due to their complexity and regulators have had to issue eleventh-hour guidance to banks and financial firm...Read More

Jan 3 (Reuters) - Stock MarketsNet ChngStock MarketsNet ChngS&P/ASX 200** 6,061.30 -3.80 NZX 50**8,398.08 -10.45DJIA24,754.6736.18 NIKKEI**22,764.94-19.04Nasdaq6,984.97180.561FTSE**7,648.1-39.67S&P 500 2,689.25 15.64 Hang Seng** 30,515.31596.16SPI 200 Fut 6,028.00.10STI** 3,430.327.38SSEC**3,349.05241.8799 KOSPI** 2,479.65 12.16--------------------------------------------------------------...Read More