* Comey says no doubt Russia interfered in the election* ECB leaves rates unchanged but closes door to further cuts* Nordstrom rises on going-private option* Indexes up: Dow 0.10 pct, S&P 0.01 pct, Nasdaq 0.15 pct (Adds details, updates prices)By Tanya AgrawalJune 8 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged higher in choppy early afternoon trading on Thursday as investors assess former FBI Director James Come...Read More

(Adds details, background)By Fumbuka Ng'wanakilalaDODOMA, Tanzania, June 8 (Reuters) - Tanzania plans to introduce a 1 percent clearing fee on the value of mineral exports in 2017/18 (July-June), its finance minister said on Thursday, part of government measures aimed at getting a bigger share of revenues from the east African country's natural resources."The government will not allow the direct...Read More

In February copper hit a 21-month high on the back of optimism that Donald Trump's $500 billion-plus infrastructure plan would add fuel to the fire of Chinese economic stimulus already working its way through commodity markets.While US stimulus now appears further in the distance, Chinese support for the sector has stayed surprisingly strong with imports of the metal, widely used in the construc...Read More

By Hilary RussNEW YORK, June 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. municipal bond market shrank slightly to $3.8233 trillion in the first quarter of 2017 from a revised $3.8374 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to a quarterly report from the Federal Reserve released on Thursday.For the first time in five years, foreign buyers shed muni bonds, knocking their total holdings off a record high of $94...Read More

By Anna IrreraNEW YORK, June 8 (Reuters) - U.S. exchange group Nasdaq Inc has joined a 7 million-euro ($7.9 million) investment round in Stratumn, which helps companies develop applications using blockchain technology, the Paris-based startup said on Thursday. The investment was led by Open CNP, the corporate venture arm of French insurer CNP Assurance SA , with participation from the Digital Curr...Read More

SAO PAULO, June 8 (Reuters) - Loan disbursements at Banco do Brasil SA remain unfazed despite heightening political and economic turmoil in recent weeks, an indication that Brazil's No. 2 lender will keep originating new credit in coming months, Chief Executive Officer Paulo Rogerio Caffarelli said on Thursday.Caffarelli, who spoke at the sidelines of a banking industry event in S??o Paulo, said B...Read More

(Updates with latest prices throughout)JOHANNESBURG, June 8 (Reuters) - South Africa's rand weakened against the dollar on Thursday as manufacturing and mining data added to a gloomy economic outlook and global events weighed on emerging markets, while stocks fell to a three-month low as gold and platinum mining shares slumped.At 1507 GMT, the rand traded at 12.9050 per dollar, 0.64 percent weake...Read More

PORT LOUIS, June 8 (Reuters) - Mauritius expects its fiscal deficit to narrow in 2017/18 (July-June), while the economy is predicted to grow 4.1 percent in the same period, up from 3.9 percent this year, the finance minister said in his budget speech on Thursday.The Indian Ocean island, which markets itself as a link between Africa and Asia, is striving to move from an economy mostly focused on su...Read More

Editor's Note: Kitco News & Kitco Insider collaborated with Northern Miner to offer you exclusive access the Canadian Mining Symposium. The one-day event included panels and discussions from some of the biggest names in mining. You can catch coverage of talks by Robert Friedland, Lukas Lundin, Rob McEwen, David Garofalo & Kelvin Dushnisky here. (Kitco News) -- Ever wonder what it would be like t...Read More

By Claire RuckinLONDON, June 8 (Reuters) - Private equity firms are increasingly shunning banks to pre-place second-lien loans directly with cash-rich funds, which is reducing banks' returns as they lose out on the most profitable part of an underwriting fee. Four buyouts, backed with loans yet to be syndicated in Europe's leveraged loan market, are expected to include pre-placed second-lien loans...Read More

Thursdaycould be a big day for markets, especially gold. Starting out this morningmarkets will hear from Mario Draghi and the ECB. Will the ECB keep the nuclearoption or drop a news bomb on markets? Comey testifies on the hill, his openingstatement on Wednesday caused a quick selloff and a quicker recovery. TheElection and Theresa May has turned from prohibitive favorite to a TV Thriller All that...Read More

Stocks moved back into the green on Thursday as former FBI director James Comey delivered public testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee. The S&P 500 was flat, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.12%. The Nasdaq hit an intraday high in early trading Thursday. Trading volume on the S&P 500 sat at 671 million shares having traded hands as of late...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold prices are still trading with solid losseson the day, in late-morning action Thursday. However, the market has beenlifted off its daily lows by the perception of the marketplace that whileformer FBI director James Comey has not directly implicated President Trump inillegal obstruction during his testimony to the Senate, Comey certainly has notput Trump in a positive light. Augu...Read More

(Kitco News) - Goldfutures fell hard Thursday on an apparent exodus by some of the "fast funds"that previously had been buying into the market, traders said.Asof 10:48 a.m. EDT, Comex August gold was $15 lower to $1,278.20 an ounce. JustTuesday, the contract had hit its highest level since mid-April, peaking at$1,298.80 an ounce, and a break of $1,300 had been seen as imminent.Acouple of New York...Read More

Mr. Gregory Beischer reports MILLROCK ACQUIRES OPTION ON EL PICACHO GOLD PROJECT, IN AN ALLIANCE ARRANGEMENT WITH CENTERRA GOLD, SONORA STATE, MEXICO Millrock Resources Inc. has entered an option agreement to purchase the El Picacho project. The project consists of district-scale concessions that cover approximately 6,300 hectares, located in Sonora state, Mexico, 18 kilometres southwest of the Sa...Read More

Mr. David Wolfin reportsCORAL AND BARRICK CLOSE SALE OF ROBERTSON PROPERTY IN NEVADA Further to Coral Gold Resources Ltd.'s news release dated June 21, 2016, Coral has closed the purchase and sale agreement with Barrick Cortez Inc., a subsidiary of Barrick Gold Corp., for the sale of the Robertson property in Lander county, Nevada, to Barrick.The agreement with BarrickThe consideration under the a...Read More

Mr. Jim Payne reportsDYNACERT APPOINTS FORMER PRESIDENT OF CUMMINS DIESEL CANADA, MICHAEL CHRISTODOULOU, AS BUSINESS/MARKETING ADVISOR Michael Christodoulou, the former president of Cummins Eastern Canada LP and Cummins Diesel of Canada, is joining DynaCERT Inc.'s advisory board as a business/marketing adviser. Mr. Christodoulou has over 30 years of extensive experience and vast knowledge working...Read More

Mr. Brian Ostroff reports ARIANNE ENTERS INTO A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING PARTNERING TO EXPLORE DOWNSTREAM PRODUCTION OF PHOSPHORIC ACIDArianne Phosphate Inc. hassigned a memorandum of understanding with a major global producer of sulphuric acid to explore the possibility of setting up a downstream operation that would produce phosphoric acid.Although currently at an early stage of discussion, t...Read More

(Kitco News)- Thegold market has shown some resilience Thursday in the face of a weaker euroafter the European Central Bank removed its lower rates bias following amonetary policy meeting. However,gold has seen renewed weakness following the North American equity open.Inhis press conference following the central bank's monetary-policy decision thatleft interest rates unchanged, ECB President Mario...Read More

The EU regulation on mineral sourcing that comes into force today is a good but small first step. Additionally, due to its limited scope and delay in implementation, it will not be effective enough, says the GoodElectronics Network. The extraction and trade of minerals, including those that end up in our electronics, has been widely linked to serious human rights violations and environmental pol...Read More