(IDEX Online) - Troubled Petra Diamonds says it's open to merger and acquisition (M&A) proposals.The UK-based miner agreed a debt-for-equity restructuring deal with lenders in October 2020, after failing to attract buyers for a proposed sale."We have got opportunities to grow organically, but given that we are through this restructuring and we have a much more robust balance sheet, we wou...Read More
(IDEX Online) - January proved to be yet another month of straight-line decline for the IDEX Polished Price Index amid ongoing caution and uncertainty. It fell 1.17 per cent, compared with 0.76 per cent in December and 2.62 per cent in November 2022. Festive spending may have cushioned some of the Index's fall in December. January's decline is less than half that of November, which could...Read More
Platinum ETN $PPLT moved below intermediate support at $90.10. Trader's CornerEquity Indices and Related ETFsDaily Seasonal/Technical Equity Trends for Feb.6th 2023Green: Increase from previous dayRed: Decrease from previous day CommoditiesDaily Seasonal/Technical Commodities Trends for Feb.6th 2023Green: Increase from previous dayRed: Decrease from previous day SectorsDaily Seasona...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Diamonds worth $55m have been seized in a series of raids across Antwerp, reportedly in an attempt to recover debts owed by the collapsed Eurostar Diamond Traders.Bailiffs and police seized gems from more than a dozen homes and offices in a court-sanctioned revery of assets, according to a Bloomberg new report.Eurostar was a De Beers sightholder and one of the world's biggest...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A 126-carat "cat's eye" emerald was among the largest ever submitted for grading, said the GIA lab in Tokyo.The cabochon gemstone - shaped with a convex obverse rather than faceted - shows a pronounced chatoyant - or cat's eye - effect. That's when a band of bright light is reflected by a series of rain-like inclusions aligned within the stone."The emerald contained...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 26 points in pre-opening trade. Tyson Foods dropped $3.53 to $60.50 after the company reported less than consensus fiscal first quarter revenues and earnings. Energizer dropped $1.86 to $35.39 after reporting less than consensus fiscal first quarter revenues and earnings. Newmont dropped $3.16 to $66.70 after announci...Read More
(IDEX Online) -Tiffany has teamed up with Nike to launch a pair of classic sneakers with a swoosh in its trademarked blue.Pairs of the black suede AF1s - a design dating back to 1982 - will be sold at two Tiffany & Co New York City locations and globally via Nike's SNKRS app from 7 March, priced $400. Regular AF1s (Air Force 1) retail for around $100.Tiffany trademarked the robin's-e...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Diamond manufacturers in India are angry that calls to abolish a two per cent equalisation levy on natural diamonds were ignored in last week's budget.Lab grown businesses will benefit from the scrapping of a five per cent import tax on the seeds from which diamonds are grown, as announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. But mined diamonds, which account for 90...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A New York City jeweler has been convicted of laundering money for an armed gang that stole high-value stole watches and jewelry worth $2m.They targeted jewelers near their homes in New York and New Jersey in a series of assaults from October 2019 to November 2020.Stanislav "Steve" Yakubov, 42, of Queens, New York, acted as a fence, selling on watches the gang had stolen, which inc...Read More
U.S. futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 44 points at 8:35 AM EST.January Non-farm Payrolls released at 8:30 AM EST was expected to increase 185,000 versus a gain of 223,000 in December. Actual was a gain of 517,000. January Unemployment Rate was expected to increase to 3.6% from 3.5% in December. Actual was a drop to 3.4%. January Average Hourly Earnings were expected t...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers today reported an increase of almost six per cent in its total rough production during Q4, to 8.2m carats.Total output for the full year of 2022 was 34.6m carats (slightly above its production guidance of 32m to 34m carats). That's an increase of seven per cent on 2021's 32.3m carats. The UK-based miner said 2023 production guidance was 30m to 33m carats at...Read More
(IDEX Online) - AIB Express Logistics, third-party shippers for diamonds and other valuables, has been bought by Sweden-based Loomis International, provider of global secure logistics, for an undisclosed sum.The agreement was signed last month and Loomis says AIB will carry on operating as normal, albeit with Loomis branding.AIB is primarily based in the US, had a total revenue of more than SEK 10...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 13 points at 7:30 AM ESTMeta Platform advanced $30.87 to $183.99 after announcing higher than consensus fourth quarter results. The company also offered positive guidance for 2023.Align Technology jumped $42.46 to $324.99 after reporting higher than consensus fourth quarter results. McKesson gained $7.02 to $378.00 aft...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Zimbabwe's central bank has notified diamond and other miners that half the royalties due to the government must be paid in raw minerals.The move is designed to maintain the value of the country's assets by building up a national reserve of precious metals and stones. It was announced last October by President Emmerson Mnangagwa (pictured).The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe sai...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Indian government today announced an immediate abolition of the five per cent import levy on the graphite seeds used to create lab grown diamonds.The move is seen as a major boost to India's small but growing lab grown sector, and follows the announcement last August that the State Bank of India (SBI) would, for the first time, provide loans for manufacturers to buy the ma...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Pope Francis yesterday told crowds in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) how the "poison of greed" had smeared its diamonds with blood.In a hard-hitting speech he condemned the "economic colonialism" of those who had plundered its natural resources.And he described the country's ongoing conflict with neighboring Rwanda as a "forgotten genocide".At the start of a four-day v...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers today reported $450m of rough sales during its first cycle of 2023, down over 30 per cent on 2022.That's despite reports that larger stones (+2.0-cts) were discounted by as much as 10 per cent, and a relaxation in its buyback terms - allowing sightholders to reject 20 per cent of goods over one carat from a parcel, rather than the standard 10 per cent. The UK-bas...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Round prices fell yet again during January amid continued hesitancy in the markets, although fancies fared much better. Overall demand remains slow, sentiment is weak, and manufacturing in India is still well below full capacity. Estimates for the number of workers laid off in Surat vary between 10,000 and 20,000. China scrapped its zero-COVID policy in December, which has fre...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 10 points in pre-opening trade.Focus today is on the FOMC meeting announcement at 2:00 PM EST. Consensus calls for a 0.25% increase in the Fed Fund Rate to 4.50%-4.75%.Snap dropped $1.59 to $9.56 after issuing negative revenue guidance. Electronic Arts dropped $8.38 to $120.30 after issuing negative earnings guidance....Read More
(IDEX Online) - Zimbabwe aims to produce 10m carats of rough diamonds this year - which would double its 2022 output.But the figure is at odds with an estimate of 7m carats made by Winston Chitando, the mines and mining development minister, last November.The 10m forecast was given over the weekend by Polite Kambamura, mines and mining development deputy minister.He said there was a lot of investm...Read More