(Recasts with Panama's statement) By Milagro Vallecillos and Valentine Hilaire PANAMA CITY, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Panama's government onTuesday doubled down on an order that Canada-based miner FirstQuantum Minerals halt operations at its local coppermine, saying the miner had been operating without a contractsince 2017. Earlier, First Quantum said it would submit an appealagainst Panama's order by t...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Titan, India's largest branded jewelry maker, says overall sales were up 12 per cent year-on-year during the last quarter of 2022.Revenue was buoyed by positive consumer sentiment combined with Diwali in October and a busy wedding season.Sales of jewelry across its 2,362 stores were up 11 per cent, watches and wearables rose 14 per cent and eyecare revenue was up 10 per...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Almost 300 carats recovered by part-time diggers in India's diamond-rich Panna district will again be offered for sale next month, after they failed to find buyers in October.There was little enthusiasm at the first auction, conducted by the Panna Diamond Office, which leases small patches of land and takes a 11.5 per cent royalty.The 158 diamonds which failed to sell last tim...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Botswana saw rough diamond sales rise by at least quarter in 2022 as buyers turned their backs on Russian goods.Total sales from January to November were $4.46bn, according to the latest figures from the Bank of Botswana, an increase of 22 per cent. Sales figures for December are due next month.The diamonds are mined by Debswana, the joint venture between De Beers and the governmen...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 18 points in pre-opening trade. Investors are waiting for comments this morning from Federal Reserve Chairman Powell at a conference in Europe with other national monetary leaders.Bumble added $0.63 to $20.59 after the stock was upgraded from Sector Weight to Overweight.AT&T gained $0.17 to $19.21 after Wells Farg...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Police in India are hunting three men alleged to have duped a diamond dealer by switching genuine stones worth $118,000 with fakes.They visited the victim's office at the Bharat Diamond Bourse, Mumbai, where they examined and photographed a selection of diamonds and their pouches.They returned later, chose 320 carats and asked for them to be set aside until while they went to...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Members of Qatar's royal family are locked in a legal battle over The Idol's Eye, a 70.21-carat Golconda diamond with an estimated $10m value.Qipco, a private investment company run by art collector Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah al-Thani has filed a lawsuit in London against Elanus Holdings Limited, based in Guernsey.Qipco claims Elanus is owned by the late Sheikh Saud bin Mo...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Indian government is facing calls to abolish import duties on seeds, the raw materials for lab grown diamonds.Industry leaders are also pressing for a presumptive taxation policy on diamonds at special notified zones and a more 'friendly' jewelry repair policy.All the moves outlined would create jobs and boost exports, according to Colin Shah, former chairman of the G...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 18 points in pre-opening trade.Goldman Sachs added $4.32 to $348.08 after announcing plans to cut 3,200 employees.Lululemon dropped $45.23 to $284.03 after lowering fourth quarter earnings guidance. Tilray dropped $0.10 to $2.85 after reporting a fiscal second quarter loss. Abercrombie & Fitch added $1.21 to $26.41...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A pair of $1m apartments owned by fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi are to be auctioned.Modi, 51 is facing extradition from the UK back to India, where he is accused of a $1.85bn fraud against the Punjab National Bank (PNB).The Debts Recovery Tribunals will sell the two adjoining flats, on the 16th floor of the luxury Yoo Pune development, in Pune, in the western state of Mahar...Read More
(IDEX Online) - An estimated 20,000 diamond workers have lost their jobs in Surat, India, in the last month, as global demand slumps, according to a report in Economic Times.Most of the city's 4,000 manufacturing units are said to working at just 60 to 70 per cent capacity, according to Damji Mavani, the secretary of Surat Diamond Association (SDA).The city's 800,000 diamond workers are...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The elderly owner of a New York jewelry store is fighting for his life after he was savagely beaten in a $100,000 raid.Manny Cohen, 79, was attacked by two men who forced their way into Roxy Jewelry, in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn, as he was closing for the day.His son Shawn was worried when he didn't answer his phone and scrolled back through the surveillance footage....Read More
U.S equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 20 point in pre-opening trade.Index futures moved higher following release of the December Non-Farm Payrolls at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus was an increase of 200,000 versus a downwardly revised gain of 256,000 in November. Actual was an increase of 223,000. December Unemployment Rate was expected to remains unchanged from N...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Watch and jewelry sales in the US for November were down 3.8 per cent year-on-year. October's figure, initially reported as a fall of 1.9 per cent, has since been revised down, based on actual through-the-till transactions rather than estimates, to 3.4 per cent, according to the latest figures from the Department of Commerce. Likewise September has been revised from a 1.3...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Underground mining for sapphires has resumed in Montana, USA, after four decades.The long-dormant Yogo Mine, close to the town of Utica, is being revived. And after two years of surface mining, operators Yogold USA are now going underground.They've dug a 3,000ft tunnel and are extracting up to 100 tons of ore today, in search of Yogo sapphires which range in color from deep co...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Sales of jewelry in Hong Kong fell last November, according to newly-released figures.Total retail sales fell year-on-year by 4.2 per cent. The figure for jewelry, watches, clocks, and valuable gifts was almost double that, at 8.3 per cent (The Census and Statistics Department does not provide a more detailed breakdown). Total sales were $372m.The sectors that fared worse were comm...Read More
(IDEX Online) - 2022 proved to be a year of highs and lows, as the Index hit its highest point in over a decade, then nose-dived to close the year down 7.5 per cent overall (from 142.86 in January to 132.15 in December).Even through the pandemic, aside from the very early months of 2020, the Index was climbing, and as lockdowns and travel restrictions were eased, it surged as never befor...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 20 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures moved lower following release of the U.S. November Trade report at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus was a deficit of $63.1 billion versus a deficit of $78.20 billion in October. Actual was a deficit of $61.5 billionConAgra added $0.95 to $39.60 after the company raised its outlook f...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Luxury French jeweler Boucheron is using recycled industrial waste - which includes asbestos - in a new collection.Material that is usually crushed and used for road-building is vitrified - turned into a glassy (and harmless) substance called Cofalit - through heat and fusion.Claire Choisne, the company's artistic director, saw the potential to cut and polish it for jewe...Read More
(IDEX Online) - An Indian jeweler has set a world record with a watch made of 17,524 natural hand-cut diamonds.Renani Jewels, in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, has been recognized by Guinness World Records for its Srinika bracelet timepiece, for "the most diamonds set on a watch".The watch, inspired by ancient Indian mythology, weighs 373.030 gram and contains 54.70 carats of diamonds, all E or F color an...Read More