By Costas PitasLONDON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Aston Martin delivered its first annual pre-tax profit since 2010 on Monday after last year's sales reached a nine-year high, while the luxury British carmaker also confirmed it is considering a stock market flotation.Pre-tax profit reached 87 million pounds ($122 million) last year at fictional spy James Bond's car brand of choice, overturning a 163 milli...Read More
By JanWolfeFeb 26 (Reuters) - A U.S. administrative court said it has the authority to decide the validity of patents Allergan Plc transferred to a Native American tribe, dealing a setback to a strategy the company adopted to protect one of its best-selling medicines from generic competition.The Patent Trial and Appeal Board, a court run by the U.S. patent office, declined on Friday a request to d...Read More
(Adds detail)FRANKFURT, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Slack in the euro zone economy may be bigger than previously estimated and this could slow the rise of inflation but only temporarily and prices will eventually climb, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Monday.The factors slowing the rise of inflation will wane as growth continues and the traditional relationship between growth and infl...Read More
(Updates with closing prices)JOHANNESBURG, Feb 26 (Reuters) - South Africa's rand pulled back from three-year highs scaled earlier in Monday's session as technical factors weighed, while stocks rose with Sasol among the advancers after it posted solid results.At 1500 GMT, the rand was 0.58 percent weaker on the day at 11.61 to the dollar, after earlier hitting 11.51, its best level since February...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Precious metals producer Sibanye-Stillwater arrested nearly 1,400 illegal miners at its South African gold shafts last year in a blitz the company says has mostly ended the practice at its mines.Illegal gold mining has plagued South Africa for decades and it costs the government and the industry more than 20 billion rand ($1.7 billion) a year in lost sales, taxes and royal...Read More
Several pharmaceutical stocks have been making outsized moves in recent weeks. Today, KemPharm Inc (NASDAQ:KMPH) and Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN) stocks are in the spotlight, thanks to encouraging regulatory news. At last check, KMPH was trading 3.1% higher at $6.18, after jumping on Friday, and ACHN stock was up 10.5% to trade at $3.27.Analysts React to KMPH FDA ApprovalKemPharm...Read More
Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT) stock is down 6.7% to trade at $15.52 -- on track for its worst day since a late-October bear gap -- after Jefferies downgraded the toy manufacturer to "underperform" from "hold." The brokerage noted that challenging industry conditions and the rising cost to compete would contribute to flattened growth and stock value. But while the firm said Mattel's recovery is alread...Read More
* Traders await clues from Fed's Powell testimony before Congress* U.S. 10-year yield holds below 4-year peak* Fed's Bullard worry about further U.S. rate increases* Foreigners step up buying at February refunding - Treasury data By Richard LeongNEW YORK, Feb 26 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury yields fell on Monday as traders reduced their bearish bond positions in advance of new Federal Reserve Chairm...Read More
(Adds details on sector moves, most traded stocks; updates prices)TORONTO, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Monday and reached a three-week high, as gains in prices of commodities such as gold and silver boosted share prices of mining companies. * At 10:01 AM ET (15:01 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index rose 23.69 points, or 0.15 percent, to 15,662....Read More
FRANKFURT, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Euro zone growth is robust but slack in the economy may be bigger than estimated, slowing the rise of inflation, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Monday."Given the uncertainty surrounding the measurement of economic slack, the true amount may be larger than estimated, which could slow down the emergence of price pressures," Draghi told th...Read More
Editor's Note: Gold and silver has been, at best, a frustrating trade. Exclusive to Kitco News, expert trader, Todd "Bubba" Horwitz, chief market strategist and founder of 'Bubba Trading provides a strategy investors can use in a range-bound gold price environment. Sign up before March 10 for the Kitco News Weekly Rundown newsletter to receive Horwitz's exclusive report and trading strategy.Updati...Read More
General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) is in the spotlight today, after the company said it has nominated three new candidates to its board of directors and a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing on Friday revealed the industrial conglomerate will restate earnings. Warren Buffett also chimed in on GE in his annual letter to shareholders, and against this busy backdrop, the shares have swung...Read More
TORONTO, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index climbed to a three-week high on Monday as financial and materials companies led broad-based gains.The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index rose 42.63 points, or 0.27 percent, to 15,681.08, shortly after the open. All of the index's 10 main groups were higher. (Reporting by Fergal Smith Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Disclaimer: The...Read More
(Adds background, inflation details)MEXICO CITY, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Mexican retail sales fell for the second month in a row in December, dropping 0.5 percent from November, the national statistics agency said on Monday.Sales slid 2.0 percent in December from the same month a year earlier, the fifth such decline in five months. It was the biggest annualized drop in sales for any month since March 2...Read More
DUBAI, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Bank Muscat , Oman's largest lender, has picked banks including HSBC, Bank ABC and First Abu Dhabi Bank to arrange a dollar-denominated bond issue, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday.The bank last year raised a $525 million syndicated loan, which was coordinated by Bank ABC and National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the lender recently merged to create First Abu Dhabi B...Read More
Editor's Note: Gold and silver has been, at best, a frustrating trade. Exclusive to Kitco News, expert trader, Todd "Bubba" Horwitz, chief market strategist and founder of 'Bubba Trading provides a strategy investors can use in a range-bound gold price environment. Sign up before March 10 for the Kitco News Weekly Rundown newsletter to receive Horwitz's exclusive report and trading strategy.(Kitco...Read More
Analysts at Citigroup, in its latest note to clients, upped the forecasts for gold prices for this year, citing rising inflationary pressures and weaker US dollar among other key factors behind the upward revision. Key Points: 2018 gold forecast raised by 7% to $1,355/oz; while noting that their 6-12 months price target is $1,385, with risks skewed to the upside. "Higher inflation, solid hedg...Read More
The following is a reprint of the market commentary from the March 2018 edition of The Option Advisor, published on February 23. For more information, or to subscribe to The Option Advisor -- featuring 10 new option trades each month -- visit our online store.Ask the average trader to find the culprit behind the recent stomach-churning sell-offs in the stock market, and they're quite likely to...Read More
Shares in Condor Gold (LON:CNR) (TSX:COG) jumped more than 5% in London on Monday after the Nicaragua-focused miner submitted an amended Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for a processing plant at its India gold project, which eliminates the need to resettle about 1,100 people.The new evaluation, part of the company's application for an environmental permit, includes a redesigne...Read More
Shares in Condor Gold (LON:CNR) (TSX:COG) jumped more than 5% in London on Monday after the Nicaragua-focused miner submitted an amended Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for a processing plant at its India gold project, which eliminates the need to resettle about 1,100 people.The new evaluation, part of the company's application for an environmental permit, includes a redesigne...Read More