BEIRUT, LEBANON (6:45 A.M.) - Concerned military, intelligence and diplomatic figures within the United States have reportedly given Israel permission to aRead full newsRead More

(Updates prices)By Jemima KellyLONDON, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Sterling kicked off the first trading day of 2018 by climbing to a three-month high close to $1.36 on Tuesday, with investors brushing off weaker-than-expected manufacturing data to focus on upcoming Brexit talks. The pound, which in 2017 recorded its best annual performance against the dollar since 2009 with an almost 10 percent rise, adde...Read More

NEW YORK, Jan 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday sold a record $48 billion of three-month bills at an interest rate of 1.435 percent, which was not far below the highest since Sept. 2008 set the previous week, Treasury data showed.The ratio of bids to the amount of three-month T-bills offered was 3.08, the highest in a month. This gauge of overall auction demand was 2.71 at the...Read More

* U.S. stocks open higher, boosting global shares* Euro, sterling gain while dollar drops* Asia shares ex-Japan cheered by upbeat China data (Updates to U.S. trading open; changes byline, dateline, previously LONDON)By Stephanie KellyNEW YORK, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Global share markets received a boost from strong gains in U.S. equities and surprisingly upbeat Chinese manufacturing data on Tuesday, th...Read More

BRASILIA, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Brazil posted a record $67 billion trade surplus in 2017, a 41 percent increase from the year before, data from the trade ministry showed on Tuesday.The December trade surplus came in at $4.998 billion, higher than the $4.061 billion median estimate in a Reuters poll of economists. (Reporting by Bruno Federowski) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are tho...Read More

(In fifth paragraph, corrects reference to "this year" to "last year")* New rules aim to apply lessons from financial crisis* Regulators aim to spot risks, boost investor protection* S&P sees more losers than winners from profound change By Huw JonesLONDON, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Bankers will work through the night to iron out last minute hitches before Wednesday's launch of a...Read More

Editor's Note: View Kitco News' full 2018 outlook coverage(Kitco News) - SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE Arca: GLD), the world’s largestgold-backed exchange-traded fund, posted a modest inflow of roughly 15 metrictons during 2017.The figure might look better than it is since the inflow camefrom a low level of overall holdings, pointed out Ryan McKay, commoditystrategist with TD Securities. However, h...Read More

Editor's Note: View Kitco News' full 2018 outlook coverage(Kitco News) - SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE Arca: GLD), the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, posted a modest inflow of roughly 15 metric tons during 2017.The figure might look better than it is since the inflow came from a low level of overall holdings, pointed out Ryan McKay, commodity strategist with TD Securities. Howeve...Read More

* Oil trades near strongest levels since mid-2015* Casino stocks hit by downbeat Dec. gambling revenue* Walt Disney, Netflix gain after upgrade* Indexes up: Dow 0.25 pct, S&P 0.63 pct, Nasdaq 1.16 pct (Changes comment, updates prices, adds details)By Sruthi ShankarJan 2 (Reuters) - Wall Street's major indexes were higher on the first trading session of the year on Tuesday, driven by technology...Read More

Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) closed out 2017 with a bang, surging 22.3% year-over-year and hitting a record high of $81.48 on Friday, Dec. 29. The retail stock is continuing this momentum into the new year -- last seen trading up 0.7% at $80.80, after Citigroup raised its price target to $85 from $72 and Nomura said the company will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the GOP tax o...Read More

* Dollar pressured by doubts about Fed rate hike outlook* Euro rises as ECB seen normalizing rate policy* MiFID II introduction weighs on volumes (New throughout, updates prices, market activity, comments and table; new byline, changes dateline; previous LONDON)By Gertrude Chavez-DreyfussNEW YORK, Jan 2 (Reuters) - The dollar sank on Tuesday to its lowest in more than three months, weighed down on...Read More

By Bruno FederowskiSAO PAULO, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Latin American markets started 2018 on Tuesday on a strong footing as solid global economic growth data drove investors to unwind year-end hedges.China's Caixin index of Chinese industry rose to a four-month high of 51.5 in December, confounding forecasts for a decline.The reading pointed to resilience for the world's largest consumer of commodities...Read More

* Ireland first euro zone country to mandate banks in 2018* Dublin planning 14-18 billion euro bond sales this year (Adds details)DUBLIN, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Ireland's debt agency hired a syndicate of banks and brokers on Tuesday to sell a new 10-year bond that a market source said was likely to raise between 3 and 4 billion euros, around a quarter of the country's 2018 funding needs. Ireland has ki...Read More

Brazil's Vale (NYSE:VALE), the world's largest iron ore and nickel miner, said in a securities filing on Tuesday that on January 8, 2018, it will conclude the sale of a fertilizer unit to US-based Mosaic Co. (NYSE:MOS) with adjustments. The changes will reduce the price tag of the sale by $1.35 billion. The South American miner revealed that it wants to retain control of the TIPLAM port terminal,...Read More

Brazil's Vale (NYSE:VALE), the world's largest iron ore and nickel miner, said in a securities filing on Tuesday that on January 8, 2018, it will conclude the sale of a fertilizer unit to US-based Mosaic Co. (NYSE:MOS) with adjustments. The changes will reduce the price tag of the sale by $1.35 billion. The South American miner revealed that it wants to retain control of the TIPLAM port terminal,...Read More

Mickey Fulp the Mercenary Geologist sits down with Maurice Jackson of Proven and Probable to revisit the virtues of a proven methodology that he has employed with regards to tax loss selling. Mickey shares how to be selective in buying particular issuers within a specific date range that have produced fairly consistent returns ranging from 10% up to 50%! Mickey also shares the best value propo...Read More

Mickey Fulp the Mercenary Geologist sits down with Maurice Jackson of Proven and Probable to revisit the virtues of a proven methodology that he has employed with regards to tax loss selling. Mickey shares how to be selective in buying particular issuers within a specific date range that have produced fairly consistent returns ranging from 10% up to 50%! Mickey also shares the best value propo...Read More

* ECB's Coeure sees chance bond buys will not be extend* Wall Street gains add upward pressure on bond yields* U.S. to sell $160 bln in T-bills later Tuesday* U.S. Treasuries gained 2.3 pct in 2017 vs 19.5 pct for S&P 500 By Richard LeongNEW YORK, Jan 2 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury yields rose on Tuesday in line with European government yields after comments from a European Central Bank official...Read 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

MUMBAI, Jan 2 (Reuters) - India's gold imports surged 67 percent in 2017 from the previous year to 855 tonnes as jewellers replenished inventory amid a rebound in retail demand, provisional data from precious metals consultancy GFMS showed.The rebound in purchases by India, the world's second-biggest consumer of gold after China, could support global prices, which are already near their highest le...Read More