USD weakens in the NA session post-PPI data. Wall Street recovers recent losses on Thursday. Gold sticks to modest daily gains. Despite the broad-based USD weakness, the XAU/USD pair is having a difficult time extending its gains on Thursday. As of writing, the pair was trading at $1321.25, adding 0.35% on the day. Earlier today, the data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show...Read More
(Adds details about the probe, background)Jan 12 (Reuters) - New Zealand's overseas investment regulator is investigating Agria Corporation, the largest shareholder in New Zealand agriculture firm PGG Wrightson Ltd , PGG said on Thursday, confirming media reports. PGG Wrightson said the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) was investigating Hong-Kong based Agria on "good character" grounds....Read More
LIMA, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Peru logged a fiscal deficit equal to 3.2 percent of gross domestic product in 2017, wider than the government's 3 percent target and the 2.6 percent deficit registered in 2016, the central bank said on Thursday.A drop in government revenues made up 0.5 percentage point of last year's deficit, followed by increased government spending, which contributed 0.2 point to the sh...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold is up 6% since the Fedraised rates last month, despite net outflows in North American-basedgold-backed exchange traded funds, but one trader said that not all investors arefleeing from the yellow metal.In an interview with KitcoNews, Vince Lanci, founder of Echobay Partners, said that he is shrugging offthe impact of recent outflows in SPDR Gold Shares, the world’s bigges...Read More
* Euro gains after ECB minutes released* Dollar index weak after U.S. producer prices fall* Bitcoin slips on S.Korea plans to ban cryptocurrency trading (Updates prices, market activity, comments)By Saqib Iqbal AhmedNEW YORK, Jan 11 (Reuters) - The euro rallied against the greenback on Thursday after the European Central Bank said it could revisit its communication stance in early 2018, boosting e...Read More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Banking Committee will hold a second vote on Jan 17 over the Trump administration’s nomination of Fed Governor Jerome Powell to lead the Federal Reserve, the committee’s calendar showed on Thursday.The committee already backed Powell to head the U.S. central bank in a Dec 5 vote, but a second vote is required because the full Senate failed to appr...Read More
By John McCrankNEW YORK, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Electronic trading is becoming increasingly important when it comes to corporate debt as fund management firms try to knit together sources of liquidity in a fragmented market, executives from Vanguard Group Inc and BlackRock Inc said on Thursday."Our goal by the end of the year is that every trade we do is going to be done electronically," Jim...Read More
The U.S. stock rally is back on, with the Dow up triple digits at last check amid a surge in energy shares. Among other names making volatile moves today are video game maker Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI), hospital operator Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH), and solar stock First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR). Here's a quick look at what's lifting shares of ATVI, CYH, and FSLR.Overwatch Le...Read More
Ulta Beauty Inc (NASDAQ:ULTA) pulled back sharply in the latter half of 2017 following its June record high of $314.86, eventually bottoming at $187.96 in mid-October. But since then, the shares have been in a channel of higher highs and lows, last seen trading at $232.37. Part of the outperformance so far in 2018 has been due to bullish analyst attention, but historical data also shows ULTA stock...Read More
Chip makers have been in focus to start the new year, after Intel's (INTC) reported Spectre security flaws. Fellow chipmaker Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) has also struggled lately, on track to shed 8.4% this week. However, this pullback puts MU stock within one standard deviation of its 80-day moving average, a trendline with historically bullish implications.According to Schaeffer's Sen...Read More
(Adds background on Argentina economic policy, regional comparisons, details from report)BUENOS AIRES, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Consumer prices in Argentina rose 24.8 percent in 2017 after a sharp 3.1 percent increase in December, government data showed on Thursday, well above the central bank's target range for annual inflation of 12-17 percent.The monthly reading, which was above median expectations...Read More
Editor's Note: View Kitco News' full 2018 outlook coverage (Kitco News)- After what has been described as a frustrating 2017,sentiment in the precious metals mining space is improving and is expected tobuild throughout 2018, according to Kitco News’ top mining CEO of 2017.In an interview with Kitco News, before the results of surveywere calculated, Rob McEwen, CEO of McEwen Mining (NYSE: MUX...Read More
AFP/Getty ImagesThe Treasury Department says the U.S. budget deficit is up 7% for the fiscal year to date. The numbers: The federal government ran a budget deficit of $23 billion in December, according to the Treasury Department, down $4 billion from the same month a year ago. Spending rose by $2 billion to $349 billion, while revenues climbed by $7 billion to $326 billion in the month. What h...Read More
The 20 stocks listed in the table below have attracted the highest total options volume during the past 10 trading days. Stocks highlighted in yellow are new entries to the list. Data is courtesy of Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White. Two names to note are drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) and streaming giant Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX). Below, we'll break dow...Read More
(Adds auction results, quote; updates prices)* China disputes bond holding report* ECB indicates may change policy message* Treasury sees strong demand for 30-year bonds By Karen Brettell and Kate DuguidNEW YORK, Jan 11 - Treasury yields fell on Thursday after China disputed a report that its government officials had recommended the country slow or halt its purchases of U.S. bonds.China is diver...Read More
* ECB hints at tighter monetary policy* Dollar falls on weak U.S. inflation, more jobless claims* Gold up more than $80 since mid-December (Recasts lead paragraph, updates prices; adds comment, NEW YORK to dateline)By Renita D. Young and Peter HobsonNEW YORK/LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Gold prices on Thursday approached a four-month high set on the previous day after minutes of a European Central B...Read More
Gold prices edged higher Thursday to settle at a four-month high as the U.S. dollar took a turn lower for the week. February gold GCG8, +1.19% tacked on $3.20, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,322.50 an ounce-the highest finish for a most-active contract since Sept. 15, FactSet data showed. The exchange-traded SPDR Gold Shares GLD, +1.21% was up 0.4%. Gold has seen its "biggest start to a month since...Read More
WASHINGTON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he expects a physical examination he is to undergo on Friday to go well and that he would be surprised if it did not.Answering questions from reporters after an event on prison reform at the White House, Trump said with a chuckle that if it does not go well, the stock market would take a hit."I think it's going to go...Read More
BUENOS AIRES, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Consumer prices in Argentina rose 24.8 percent in 2017 after a sharp 3.1 percent increase in December, government data showed on Thursday, well above the central bank's target range for annual inflation between 12-17 percent.In greater Buenos Aires, which had been used as a proxy for the country's inflation before the Indec statistics agency launched a nationwide i...Read More
By Gianluca Semeraro and Valentina ZaMILAN, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Intesa Sanpaolo's sudden change of plan for tackling bad debts was driven by the European Central Bank's tough line on problem loans, sources familiar with the matter said.Intesa on Wednesday said it was in talks on a possible sale of its debt collection business and a bad loan portfolio to Swedish credit servicing group Intrum Justiti...Read More