Chilean development agency Corfo said on Wednesday that it had struck a deal with lithium company SQM, putting an end to a long-running dispute over royalties in Chile's Salar de Atacama, home to one of the world's richest lithium deposits.Read full newsRead More

After the flood of mixed Christmas trading updates from the high street over the past few weeks, the main focus on Friday will be the release of the official UK retail sales data for December.The British Retail Consortium survey, released the week before last, showed that sales between 26 November and 30 December were 1.4% higher than a year earlier.The BRC data also suggested there was faster gro...Read More

BEIRUT, LEBANON (12:10 P.M.) - The Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevl? 1/4 t ??avu??o??lu, stated on Thursday that Ankara demands the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) immediatelRead full newsRead More

Syrian Foreign Ministry has warned Turkey against taking hostile action in Afrin, saying that Damascus will consider it an act of aggression and undermineRead full newsRead More

When OPEC and Russia meet this weekend to review their strategy for clearing a global oil glut, they'll face an unusual problem: it could be working just a bit too well.Read full newsRead More

(Kitco News) - After recovering in 2017, gold prices are in for further gains this year, with the potential to hit $1,440 an ounce, said MKS PAMP in its annual outlook.“As the demand is set to improve, the supply side will remain under pressure. This combined with ongoing geopolitical tensions and the official sector expected to be a net buyer prompts us to set the yearly average at 1365.00...Read More

(Kitco News) - After recovering in 2017, gold prices are in for further gains this year, with the potential to hit $1,440 an ounce, said MKS PAMP in its annual outlook.“As the demand is set to improve, the supply side will remain under pressure. This combined with ongoing geopolitical tensions and the official sector expected to be a net buyer prompts us to set the yearly average at 1365.00...Read More

Mark Gustafson, chief executive of Challenger Acquisitions Limited (LON:CHAL), tells Proactive's Andrew Scott they've invested in a second giant observation wheel project, this time in Dallas, Texas.The AIM-quoted firm has invested US$300,000 towards the pre-development costs of the Eye of Texas, with the option to invest up to US$1mln in this first tranche.The remainder of the US$3mln of pre-deve...Read More

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) tapped a record high at the open, but it would appear stocks are now being hit by a round of profit-taking, with the blue-chip index last seen trading back below 26,000. In fact, some of the year's top sectors -- namely, healthcare and finance -- are the primary reasons the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) have joined the Dow in the red. Invest...Read More

(Kitco News)- The risks of a government shutdown continue to rise asCongress’ deadline quickly approaches; however, gold bulls might bedisappointed if they are expecting to see higher prices as a result of ongoing politicalturmoil on Capitol Hill.Washington has until Friday to come up with an agreement tofund the government. But, with a growing number of politicians are pushing backagainst t...Read More

(Kitco News) - The risks of a government shutdown continue to rise as Congress’ deadline quickly approaches; however, gold bulls might be disappointed if they are expecting to see higher prices as a result of ongoing political turmoil on Capitol Hill.Washington has until Friday to come up with an agreement to fund the government. But, with a growing number of politicians are pushing back aga...Read More

* Pound pauses after briefly rising above $1.39* Traders focus on improved Brexit outlook, UK economy* Graphic: World FX rates in 2018 * Graphic: Trade-weighted sterling since Brexit vote By Tommy Wilkes and Jemima KellyLONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Sterling climbed above $1.39 on Thursday for the first time since Britain's vote to leave the European Union and was on track for a fifth consecutive wee...Read More

By Sinead CarewJan 18 (Reuters) - Investors have shrugged off the latest threat of a federal government shutdown, saying they are not worried about a major pullback in shares even if U.S. lawmakers fail to strike a deal. If history is any guide, a shutdown would not be enough to knock the market off course. And investors have already shown they can ignore political risks at home and abroad, focusi...Read More

RABAT, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Morocco is planning to negotiate a new form of International Monetary Fund precautionary line of credit which will be "modular and better" than the previous one, the central bank governor said on Thursday.In 2016, the IMF granted Morocco a two-year, $3.5 billion credit line for Morocco to give its foreign lenders, investors and rating agencies reassurance over t...Read More

RABAT, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Morocco is launching a flexible currency exchange system in a step-by-step process while remaining aware of any potentially negative impact on people's purchasing power, the finance minister said on Thursday.Mohammed Boussaid told reporters the kingdom was not following Egypt's example of switching to a fully free-floating exchange rate in one sudden step. (Reporting by U...Read More

WARSAW, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Polish state bank BGK sold 500 million zlotys ($147 million)worth of three-year floating-rate bonds on Thursday, the bank said in a statement.BGK said it sold the bonds with a spread of 24 basis points over the Polish interbank lending rate WIBOR, adding that the proceeds from the issue were partly used to roll over its bonds maturing on Jan 25.($1 = 3.3991 zlotys) (Repo...Read More

* Oasis Management makes 6 proposals for GMO Internet's AGM* Calls for less CEO power, abolishing anti-takeover defence* Oasis holds 5 pct of GMO Internet's shares By Hideyuki SanoTOKYO, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Hong Kong-based activist investor Oasis Management Company has proposed that Japanese internet and cryptocurrency firm GMO Internet reduces the power of its founder and abolishes its takeover d...Read More

China bond yields rose ahead of the macro data avalanche tonight (following a leaked upside surprise print for GDP). GDP, Industrial Production, and Fixed Asset Investment all beat expectations but Retail Sales missed dramatically - growing at its slowest since Feb 2004.Read full newsRead More

(Bloomberg) - India's steel ministry is seeking to remove import tax on coking coal to soften the impact of rising costs on users of the key steel-making fuel and promote production of the alloy that's crucial for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plan to boost domestic manufacturing.The ministry has written to the finance department to consider its request in the federal budget on Feb. 1, federal...Read More

RABAT, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Morocco's new, more flexible foreign exchange currency system will boost economic growth by 0.2 percent, the central bank governor said on Thursday, without specifying the period.The dirham move will lift inflation by 0.4 percent "in an extreme case" but also boost people's purchasing power, Abdellatif Jouahri told reporters. (Reporting by Ulf Laessing and Zakia...Read More