(Adds detail)RIGA, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Latvia's central bank provided an emergency loan to troubled lender ABLV on Friday, offering it a potential lifeline as a European Central Bank deadline approaches for the bank to present a credible survival plan.Latvia, a member of the euro zone that borders Russia, has come under increasing scrutiny recently over allegations that it is a conduit for illicit...Read More
By Ankur BanerjeeFeb 23 (Reuters) - Henry Schein Inc and Patterson Cos Inc have bigger things to worry about than Amazon.com Inc potentially disrupting the niche dental-equipment market they dominate in the United States.Their stocks, as well as those of other U.S. drug and medical equipment suppliers, have taken a beating in the past year as speculation over Amazon expanding its considerable reac...Read More
* Dollar on pace for a weekly gain of 0.9 pct* Euro weaker as political risks loom (Updates throughout to U.S. market open, changes dateline; previous LONDON)By Saqib Iqbal AhmedNEW YORK, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The dollar edged higher against a basket of major currencies on Friday, extending its recovery from a three-year low last week, as the potential for a more aggressive U.S. Federal Reserve promp...Read More
AMSTERDAM, Feb 23 (Reuters) - B&S Holding BV, a Dutch wholesale and logistics company, will announce as early as next week that it is preparing for an initial public offering of shares in Amsterdam, two sources told Reuters.The company has several business lines, including supplying perishable goods to cruise ships and military bases, as well as purchasing overstock for low-cost retailers.A sp...Read More
ACCRA, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The Bank of Ghana said the yield on its weekly 91-day bill was near unchanged at 13.3476 percent at an auction on Friday, from 13.3412 percent at the last sale on Feb. 16.The bank said it had accepted all 473.06 million cedis ($106 million) worth of bids tendered for the paper, which will be issued on Monday.Ghana's treasury bill yields have stayed around 13 percent since...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. (Kitc...Read More
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2018 * Graphic: Trade-weighted sterling since Brexit vote By Jemima KellyLONDON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Sterling edged up against the dollar and euro on Friday but finished the week in much the same place as it had started, with weaker-than-expected economic data being offset by hawkish comments from Bank of England policymakers.The BoE's chief economist Andy Haldane told...Read More
Shares in Canada's Endeavour Mining (TSX:EDV) (OTCQX:EDVMF) got a boost Friday after the company announced it was on track to pour first gold at its Ity mine in Ivory Coast by mid-2019.Company is building a plant that will add 14 years of productive life to its Ivory Coast-based gold mine.The West Africa-focused firm said the $412-million construction project to upgrade Ity remained on-time and o...Read More
HELSINKI, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Finnish sauna heater maker Harvia has what it takes to become a listed company, its chief executive said on Friday, adding that sales grew and profitability improved last year."Listing is a real option for us, eventually ... in terms of operation, reporting and so forth, we are ready," CEO Tapio Pajuharju told Reuters by telephone."But there's no timetab...Read More
* Ramaphosa likely to announce a new cabinet soon* Stocks rise led by banking shares (Adds detail, fresh quotes, updates figures)JOHANNESBURG, Feb 23 (Reuters) - South Africa's rand firmed on Friday amid talk that new President Cyril Ramaphosa is likely to announce a new cabinet after a party meeting over the weekend, while stocks rose led by the banking sector.Ramaphosa has said he is considering...Read More
By Pete SchroederWASHINGTON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - A Democratic commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday questioned the growing use of complex financial products by retail investors such as derivatives based on stock market volatility indicators that were linked to recent weeks of market turmoil.Commissioner Kara Stein questioned whether retail investors are taking risks...Read More
(Adds details throughout on stocks and sectors; updates prices)TORONTO, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Friday, helped by gains for energy companies as oil prices rose.* At 10:27 a.m. EST (15:27 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index rose 51.43 points, or 0.33 percent, to 15,559.6.* The energy group gained 0.8 percent, with Pembina Pipeline Corp climbi...Read More
(Bloomberg) - Investors might be running out of patience with Sibanye Gold Ltd.'s colorful chief executive, Neal Froneman.The South African miner's stock plunged by a record 16 percent Thursday after the company warned it may consider selling assets, metals streams and - only as a last resort - new shares, if the recent strength in the rand persists.Sibanye is under pressure to reduce debt after...Read More
Acacia Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACIA) stock is down 18.5% to trade at $34.09, and just touched a new annual low of $33.68, after the software company posted fourth-quarter revenue that fell short of analyst estimates. The company also gave a weaker-than-expected full-year forecast for 2018. In response, Needham and D.A. Davidson downgraded the stock to "hold" and "neutral," respectively, whil...Read More
NEW YORK, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The now "large" U.S. deficits may complicate the government's ability to curb future recessions with tax and spending policies, so the Federal Reserve must depend less on fiscal policy, a top Fed policymaker said on Friday."Large deficits now may make future actions difficult" for the government, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said in prepared...Read More
* Yields on 10-year Treasury notes down for second day* General Mills to buy Blue Buffalo for $8 bln* Hewlett Packard Enterprise opens at record high* Indexes up: Dow 0.81 pct, S&P 0.72 pct, Nasdaq 0.76 pct (Updates to open)By Sruthi ShankarFeb 23 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes rose on Friday, with gains in technology stocks helping claw back some of the week's losses, which were spark...Read More
Amid an uptick in equity market volatility, some traders are seeking refuge in a familiar place: gold. Market participants are also renewing their enthusiasm for some gold miners exchange traded funds (ETFs), including leveraged fare. The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF GDX, +1.10% the largest non-leveraged gold miners ETF, surged nearly 4 percent last week as traders flocked to the fund. "Investor...Read More
SAO PAULO, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Brazilian online bank Intermedium SA filed on Friday for an initial public offering on the Sao Paulo stock exchange, according to documents filed with Brazil's securities regulator.The bank will issue new shares and its controlling shareholders, members of Brazil's Menin family, will also sell shares.The proceeds will be used by Inter, as the bank is known, to expand...Read More
NEW YORK, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve should focus on lowering interest rates in the face of the next recession, and avoid relying on asset purchases that are a less effective policy tool than previously thought, four top U.S. economists told a roomful of Fed officials on Friday.Their paper analyzed the efficacy of the U.S. central bank's $3.5-trillion in bond purchases in response to t...Read More
BERLIN, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Volkswagen said full-year profit nearly doubled last year, helped by record sales of luxury Audi and Porsche models and cost cuts at its VW mass-market brand.Group operating profit after special items jumped to 13.8 billion euros from 7.1 billion a year ago, VW said on Friday, below the bottom-end forecast of 13.9 billion in a Reuters poll. But VW raised the provisions r...Read More