U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 20 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures recovered slightly following release of the U.S. May Employment Report at 8:30 AM EDT. May Non-farm Payrolls were expected to drop to 310,000 jobs from 428,000 jobs in April. Actual was 390,000 jobs. May Unemployment Rate was expected to remain at 3.6% set in April. Actual...Read More
News: Rising expectations for Las Vegas shows. US demand supporting market despite economic caution. China sluggish but starting to return from Covid-19 lockdown. Polished prices stabilizing amid inventory decline in select categories. 1 ct. RAPI -0.5% in May. Small rough strong; tender prices high as Russian sanctions leave supply gap. Some big cutters buying Alrosa goods. Traders anticipate lar...Read More
RAPAPORT... BlueRock Diamonds has asked its financial backers for help after severe rainfall dented production at its mine in South Africa.The drop in rough output and sales, as well as higher costs, has depleted BlueRock's cash resources during a period of heavy investment, it said Wednesday. The company has entered discussions with a major shareholder and providers of debt finance to "suppo...Read More
RAPAPORT... Christie's will offer a variety of diamonds at its two upcoming Jewels Online sales, with a necklace by designer Garrard estimated to fetch up to GBP 220,000 ($277,262).The piece features a pear-shaped, 4.78-carat, E-color, VVS2-clarity diamond, as well as marquise-, pear-shaped and circular-cut diamonds weighing approximately 55 to 60 carats. It's the top item up for sale at the June...Read More
RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds has recovered a 125-carat rough from its Let??eng mine in Lesotho, its second stone over 100 carats this year.The high-quality, white diamond was unearthed at the site on May 31, Gem Diamonds said Thursday. The discovery comes hot on the heels of a high-value, 129-carat rough the miner found the week before.The recovery of the two stones follows a long period of sluggishne...Read More
RAPAPORT... Organizations around the world have launched a pilot traceability project for artisanal diamond mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).OrigemA will work toward setting up a transparent mine-to-market program for small-scale mining cooperatives in the central African country, the founders said this week.The institutions behind the initiative are the Antwerp World Diamond...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Tariffs on most diamonds and jewelry exports from Israel to the United Arab Emirates will be abolished as the two countries establish closer ties.A free trade agreement signed on Tuesday will further boost trade links between the two countries. Business has flourished since it was officially sanctioned by the Abraham Accords of August 2020.Tariffs on food, medicine, fertilizers&nbs...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The IDEX Polished Price Index fell very slightly during May, ending the month down just 0.69 per cent. In April it declined by more than 2.1 per cent. Before that, January and February showed sharp increases - 5.67 per cent and 4.14 per cent respectively. The Index has been declining since the first week of March.IDEX Online subscribers please click here to rea...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Manufacturers will increasingly turn to lab growns to fill supply gaps caused by sanctions against Russia.Botswana's minister of minerals and energy, Lefoko Moagi, told a mining conference it would be hard to source enough natural diamonds to replace Alrosa's missing output."We see the 30 per cent gap that will be left by the ban being plugged by something else that is no...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 22 points at 7:30 AM EDT.April Factory Orders to be released at 10:00 AM EDT are expected to increase 0.8% versus a gain of 1.8% in March. Chewy $CHWY gained $4.56 to $28.10 after reporting higher than consensus quarterly revenues and earnings. Hewlett Packard Enterprises $HPE dropped $1.08 to $14.70 after reporting lo...Read More
(Adds Southern Copper statement confirming fire) By Marcelo Rochabrun LIMA, June 1 (Reuters) - Southern Copper Corp saidthat a fire broke out at its Los Chancas mining project onTuesday evening, at around the same time as another fire startedat MMG Ltd's Las Bambas copper mine, sources said,amid intensified protests against mines in recent months. Communities in Peru, the world's No. 2 copper prod...Read More
RAPAPORT... Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have reached a trade deal that will abolish certain tariffs on diamonds and jewelry.The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) will eliminate customs duties on more than 96% of products across a range of sectors, the countries said Tuesday after signing the document. It will advance bilateral trade beyond $10 billion within fi...Read More
RAPAPORT... Hong Kong's hard-luxury sales saw an upswing in April as the health situation improved and the government released new retail vouchers.Revenue from jewelry, watches, clocks and valuable gifts climbed 14% year on year to HKD 3 billion ($382.7 million) for the month, the municipality's Census and Statistics Department reported Wednesday. The increase comes after two consecutive months of...Read More
RAPAPORT... Dubai-based luxury conglomerate Damac Group has purchased Swiss jeweler De Grisogono in an effort to penetrate new sectors."Keeping in line with our ambitions to expand our business into the luxury and high-end fashion realm, bidding for De Grisogono came to us naturally," Damac founder and billionaire Hussain Sajwani said Tuesday. "A relatively young but established brand, it has imme...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The first steps towards setting up a traceability program have been taken in Democratic Republic Congo (DRC), which dominates the world's supply of diamonds from artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM).A pilot project involving Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), the DRC mining ministry and tech company Everledger aims to establish a fully transparent value chain in a country...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Foreign sales of Swiss watches slowed in April, as China was hit by Covid lockdowns.Total export revenue was just under $2bn, its lowest since August 2021, according to figures released by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. That's up 7.3 per cent on April 2021.Sales to the US, by far the biggest single market, was up 37 per cent to $335m.But exports to second-pl...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Supermodel Karen Elson is the face of Natural Diamond Council's (NDC) newest campaign.She wears Bulgari, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Bucherer, Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and many more brands in the first ever digital cover for Only Natural Diamonds, the NDC's consumer-facing digital platform.British-born Elson (pictured), 43, also a singer-songwriter, was chosen a...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Raiders fled empty-handed after they were kicked and punched by staff at a jewelry store in California, USA.One of the four robbers smashed a display case with a hammer at the Princess Bride Diamonds, in the Bella Terra shopping mall, Huntington Beach (on Sunday 29 May).But staff, together with the owner's relatives, fought back. One female employee can be seen on CCTV repeate...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Pandora and LVMH are both enter the Top 10 of $100m supersellers in National Jeweler magazine's annual State of the Majors report published yesterday. Signet remains in first place, with sales across North American of $7.30bn in 2021, a huge increase from $4.84bn the previous year. Walmart, Amazon and Costco are second, third and fourth respectively, unchanged from last year,...Read More
(IDEX Online) - There were many losses during May, especially among goods under 0.3-cts, and many gains, especially among goods over 2.0-cts, amid ongoing uncertainty. Manufacturers have been switching to LGDs as the preferred replacement for naturals smalls, which have been in desperately short supply, especially since sanctions were imposed on Russia. This largely accounts for these price d...Read More