* Rand weakens along with emerging markets* Markets await budget speech on Wednesday* Stocks down amid low trading volumes (Adds latest figures, analyst quotes)JOHANNESBURG, Feb 19 (Reuters) - South Africa's rand weakened along with other emerging currencies on Monday as the dollar regained ground it lost last week and investors awaited details of new president Cyril Ramaphosa's plans to revive th...Read More
(Adds comments, background)By Polina Nikolskaya and Zlata GarasyutaMOSCOW, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Real wages in Russia rose more than expected in January but real disposable incomes could be lower than official statistics show ahead of a presidential election on March 18, analysts said on Monday. The oil-dependent economy grew 1.5 percent last year after two years of recession, missing an official for...Read More
BRATISLAVA, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Slovakia began trading of state bonds on the MTS trading platform on Monday, in an effort to increase liquidity in its secondary market and lower its risk premium, the country's debt management agency said.The central European country, a member of the euro zone since 2009, has enjoyed a comfortable borrowing position with declining budget deficits and an economy outp...Read More
(Adds CEO comments)By Carolina MandlSAO PAULO, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Shares in Brazilian insurance holding company BB Seguridade fell on Monday after management said raising profit will continue to be a challenge this year as interest rates reach their lowest level ever in the country.Shares were down 3.2 percent in mid-morning trading in Sao Paulo at 30.72 reais after BB Seguridade missed fourth-qu...Read More
Major gold-backed exchange traded products, such as the SPDR Gold Shares GLD, -0.33% and the iShares Gold Trust IAU, -0.31% are sporting solid year-to-date showings. Some market observers, however, are voicing concerns about the yellow metal after it declined during the volatility spike earlier this month. Gold's lack of positive response to the surge in the CBOE Volatility Index, also known as th...Read More
RIGA, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Latvia's ABLV Bank said on Monday it had never violated sanctions, rejecting an assertion by the US Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FCEN)."We don't participate in any illegal activities," Deputy CEO Vadims Reinfelds told a news conference. "There are no violations of sanctions."The bank said depositors had withdrawn around 60...Read More
(Adds background)KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia increased its crude oil exports slightly in December to 7.045 million barrels per day (bpd), official data showed on Monday.OPEC's biggest producer, which has cut output since last year under an agreement between OPEC and other producers to ease a supply glut, pumped 9.980 million bpd of oil in December, according to the data...Read More
(Kitco News)- The gold market is off its recent highs, starting the week on a soft note as the U.S. dollar bounces off a three-year low; however, analysts aren't ready to call an end to the yellow metal's long-term uptrend.While U.S. equity markets are closed Monday for Presidents' Day, the gold market is open, with electronic markets trading until noon, ET. April gold futures last traded at $1,34...Read More
BUENOS AIRES, Feb 19 (Reuters) - The Argentine economy grew "close to 2.8 percent" last year, Guido Sandleris, head of the advisory body to the Treasury Ministry, told a gathering of Japanese business leaders on Monday. The data, according to Sandleris, shows a clear recovery of the third-largest economy in Latin America after a contraction of gross domestic product of 2.2 percent in 201...Read More
LONDON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Latvia's benchmark bond fell on Monday, after one of the country's biggest banks was accused of breaching Western sanctions on North Korea and its central bank governor was detained by the country's anti-corruption agency.The moves saw the main Oct 2026 euro-dominated bond drop 0.67 cents to 96, its lowest since August. The yield, which moves inverse to the bond's price,...Read More
BRUSSELS, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers should decide on Monday to disburse the fourth tranche of aid to Greece, France's Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said."We should decide today the payment of the fourth tranche of aid to Greece, given the reforms that have been the Greek government accomplished for several months," Le Maire told reporters ahead of a meeting of euro...Read More
BRUSSELS, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Germany's acting Finance Minister Peter Altmaier on Monday threw his weight behind Spain's Luis de Guindos in the race for the vacant job of European Central Bank vice president."It would be an excellent choice if the Eurogroup agreed on him today or at the next meeting," said Altmaier, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking shortly before a meeti...Read More
KARACHI, Pakistan, Feb 19 (Reuters) -DAILY INDICATORS Monday PREVIOUSFloating Interbank Rate (Rs/$)110.45/110.57110.43/110.53Rupee/US$ (kerb market) 111.50 111.30Karachi 100-share Index 43,572.6743,627.10Gold (Karachi) Rs/10 gm 48,471.4348,642.43CENTRAL BANK AUCTIONS Treasury bill auction results: Cut-off yield (pct) at auction onFeb 14Jan 31Three-month bills6.21446.2144Six-month billsBids notBids...Read More
BRUSSELS, Feb 19 (Reuters) - European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici said he had no comment specifically on the accusations of money laundering against Latvia's ABLV Bank but said that in general the EU always condemned money laundering.Asked to comment on the detention of the Latvia's central bank governor by police and the European Central Banks decision stop al...Read More
BRUSSELS, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Belgium's consumer confidence index fell in February as respondents became more downbeat about the Belgian economy their finances, the central bank said on Monday. The index fell to 1 point in February from 4 in the previous month.Feb 2018Jan 2018Feb 2017Belgian economy 811-2Unemployment -1-610Household finances -2 0 0Ability to save-4-2 3 Overall index 1 4-2(The numbe...Read More
LONDON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - The London Stock Exchange Group will launch a contract to compete directly with rival InterContinental Exchange to wean markets off Libor by 2021, the British bourse said on Monday.LSE's CurveGlobal derivatives arm is set to launch its three-month SONIA futures contract in the second quarter of this year. SONIA or Sterling Overnight Index Average, is a benchmark administ...Read More
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices hit their highest level in nearly two weeks on Monday, lifted by a global equity market recovery and tensions in the Middle East, although concerns of rising U.S. production tempered gains.European shares rose for a fourth straight session, with global stocks set for a sixth session of gains, following a sell-off triggered by fears of creeping inflation and higher bor...Read More
LONDON (Reuters) - World stocks were set for a sixth session of gains on Monday, extending a recovery from a selloff sparked by fears of creeping inflation and higher borrowing costs.Gains were marginal, however, and scored largely in Asian markets, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 up 2 percent. European markets gave up initial gains to turn lower, with the pan-European STOXX index down 0.2 percent.M...Read More
BRUSSELS, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Ireland's finance minister said on Monday he would withdraw the candidacy of Irish central bank governor Philip Lane from the race for the position of European Central Bank vice president and support Spain's Luis de Guindos for the job.Paschal Donohoe told reporters on entering a meeting of euro zone finance ministers that will decide on a joint candidate that he would...Read More
LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar enjoyed a small rebound on Monday as investors bought back the greenback after its plunge to three-year lows, although analysts said any recovery looked set to be brief with dollar bears still out in force.The U.S. currency has weakened this year as expectations that central banks will start raising interest rates in other parts of the world erode its perceived yield...Read More