(Adds comments from economists, recasts first paragraph)MEXICO CITY, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Mexico's annual inflation rate climbed to a 16-1/2 year high in 2017, piling pressure on the central bank and its new governor to act again next month to rein in inflation after hiking borrowing costs at the December monetary policy meeting.Inflation stood at 6.77 percent in the year to December, the highest an...Read More

We've been recounting some of our top stock picks of 2017. While Chipotle (CMG) was a big winner on the short side, industrial stock Trinity Industries Inc (TRN) was one of our market-beating recommendations on the long side. Another successful long recommendation we made in 2017 was farming machinery concern Deere & Company (NYSE:DE). Here's a closer look at why we were bullish on DE stock in 2...Read More

   •  Resurgent USD demand prompts fresh selling.   •  Surging US bond yields exert additional pressure. Gold came under some renewed selling pressure on Tuesday and resumed with its corrective slide from last week’s three-and-a-half month highs. The precious metal struggled to build on overnight rebound and was now being weighed down by a strong follo...Read More

(Adds background)WASHINGTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve should keep interest rates low so that wage gains accelerate and inflation rises, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said on Tuesday."Inflation has been low, wage growth has been low, so I'm advocating for lower interest rates to get wages up and to get inflation back to our 2 percent target," Kashk...Read More

* Germany, Netherlands and Austria sell bonds on Tuesday* Yields on all three well up from mid-December* BoJ buying pattern pushes U.S. Treasury yields up* Euro zone periphery govt bond yields (Recasts with rise in yields)By Abhinav Ramnarayan and Fanny PotkinLONDON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Euro zone government bond yields rose on Tuesday, following a wave of new debt issuances from the bloc's top-rated...Read More

(Adds details on stocks and sectors throughout; updates prices)* TSX rises 9.89 points, or 0.06 percent, to 16,327.54* Six of the index's 10 main groups fall* Energy group gains 0.7 percent* Materials sector falls 0.7 percent TORONTO, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index was little changed on Tuesday as shares of energy and marijuana producers rose, balancing a dip in the materials group...Read More

DUBAI, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia will ease requirements for foreign institutional investors in its stock market from Jan. 23, the securities regulator said on Tuesday, as the kingdom seeks more foreign capital to help diversify the economy beyond oil exports.Among the reforms, the minimum value of assets under management needed for an institution to qualify as an investor will fall to $500 mi...Read More

(Kitco News) - Bart Melek, head of commoditiesstrategy at TD Securities, was the winner of the London Bullion MarketAssociation's gold-forecasting contest for 2017, while ICBC Standard Bankanalyst Tom Kendall was first in silver.Both analysts are frequentlyquoted by Kitco News.At the start of last year, Melekforecast gold would average $1,256 an ounce. That was only slightly off of theactual 2017...Read More

(Kitco News) - Bart Melek, head of commodities strategy at TD Securities, was the winner of the London Bullion Market Association's gold-forecasting contest for 2017, while ICBC Standard Bank analyst Tom Kendall was first in silver. Both analysts are frequently quoted by Kitco News. At the start of last year, Melek forecast gold would average $1,256 an ounce. That was only slightly off of the actu...Read More

* Dollar index hits 11-day high* Yen hits five-day high after BoJ trims buying in long-dated JGBs By Saqib Iqbal AhmedNEW YORK, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The dollar climbed against a basket of major currencies on Tuesday, recovering further from last week's decline to the lowest in more than three months, which drew bargain hunters.The dollar index , which measures the greenback against six rival currenc...Read More

(Kitco News)- Thegold market is being weighed down by a stronger U.S. dollar, but some analystsremain bullish on the yellow metal as the market continues to hold criticalsupport levels.Afterstarting the year near a four-month low, the U.S. dollar is beginning to catcha bid, rallying through near-term resistance levels. The renewed momentum haspushed gold prices well off their recent four-month hig...Read More

The start of a new year has brought a slew of holiday retail sales data. Today, retail powerhouses Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) and Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN) are both in focus following their newly released November-December sales figures. Here's a closer look at how TGT and URBN stocks are faring. TGT Boosts Fourth-Quarter Profit Forecast TGT is up 3% to trade at $69.19 after the re...Read More

* Rand rallies briefly before retreating back to ranges* Stocks flat as Steinhoff extends losses (Adds latest prices, analyst quotes)JOHANNESBURG, Jan 9 (Reuters) - South Africa's rand strengthened on Tuesday, touching its highest level in two sessions, after rumours that President Jacob Zuma had stepped down spurred a temporary rally in the currency against the greenback.Stocks were little change...Read More

By Camilla KnudsenOSLO, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The ethics watchdog for Norway's $1 trillion wealth fund will this year identify companies that violate workers' rights when hiring people for jobs in the Middle East, and recommend excluding them from the fund's portfolio.Companies in the global shipping industry will also face scrutiny and risk being blacklisted if their recycling of obsolete vessels fai...Read More

Chip software developer Cadence Design Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CDNS) has been rallying hard over the past 12 months, up over 71%. More recently, the stock pulled back to its rising 80-day moving average after topping out at a record high in late November. This trendline has had historically bullish implications, suggesting CDNS could be ready to embark on its next leg higher. In spite of this stro...Read More

Quadron Cannatech Corporation (CSE:QCC) offers investors a way to capitalize on the growing demand for cannabis extracts, writes Ryan Allway at CannabisFN.Recent data from the Government of Canada found there was a total increase of 34% from Apr 2017 to Sep 2017 in Cannabis oil sold to clients, compared to 3% for dried cannabis.Below is an article highlights the key areas Quadron operates in,...Read More

BERLIN, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The German federal budget had a larger-than-expected surplus of 3.7 billion euros at the end of 2017, German newspaper Handelsblatt said on Tuesday, adding those funds were due to be put aside for asylum seekers for a future government to use.Handelsblatt did not cite its source for the information.It said an additional 6.7 billion euros from a reserve for asylum seekers...Read More

IT stock Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc (NASDAQ:HMNY) is trading up 3.3% today at $7.15, thanks to news that the company's MoviePass service has surpassed 1.5 million subscribers. According to Reuters, the service had only 20,000 back in mid-August. This is just the latest outsized move in what's been a volatile year for HMNY shares.Looking all the way back to last May, the equity jumped afte...Read More

WASHINGTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve should keep interest rates low so that wage gains accelerate and inflation rises, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said on Tuesday."Inflation has been low, wage growth has been low, so I'm advocating for lower interest rates to get wages up and to get inflation back to our 2 percent target," Kashkari said at an eve...Read More

* 10-year yields hit a 10-month month high* BOJ trims bond buying, sparking sell-off* US Treasury to sell $24 bln in 3-year notes at 1 pm EST By Kate DuguidNEW YORK, Jan 9 - Yields on the benchmark U.S. government bond hit a 10-month high on Tuesday after the Bank of Japan said it will trim its purchases of Japanese government bonds. The announcement raised speculation the Japanese central bank m...Read More