(Corrects first paragraph to show yields rose not fell)Cairo, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Average yields on Egypt's three- and nine-month treasury bills rose at an auction on Sunday, central bank data showed.Yields on the 91-day bills rose to 19.223 percent from 18.770 at the last sale a week earlier, while yields on the 266-day bills also rose to 18.754 percent from 18.097 percent. (Reporting by Nadine A...Read More
(Corrects first paragraph to show yields rose not fell)CAIRO, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Average yields on Egypt's five- and 10-year treasury bonds rose at an auction on Sunday, central bank data showed.The average yield on the five-year bond rose to 15.856 percent from 15.728 percent at the last similar auction. The average yield on the 10-year bond rose to 16.025 percent from 15.740 percent. (Reporting...Read More
* Geopolitics, slumping economic growth weighed on Gulf bourses* Saudi index edged up just 0.2 pct in year, Dubai fell 4.6 pct* Valuations, higher state spending should help markets in 2018* Saudi's National Commercial Bank surges on bonus share issue* Dar Al Arkan pulls back after news of unit's IPO plan By Andrew TorchiaDUBAI, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Middle Eastern stock markets far underperformed t...Read More
(Recasts with 2017 data, adds details)By Steven ScheerTEL AVIV, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Israel's economic growth slowed in 2017 to 3 percent due to weaker consumer spending and investment, provisional data showed on Sunday, although a slight pickup is expected in 2018.The provisional estimate from the Central Bureau of Statistics was based on nine to 11 months of data and was well below a growth rate...Read More
FRANKFURT, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Siemens will test the appetite of sovereign wealth funds ahead of the planned listing of its healthcare unit Healthineers next year, its chief executive told a German weekly, possibly to secure anchor investors for the flotation.The listing of a minority of the unit, which makes X-ray and MRI machines, is set to take place in the first half of 2018 and is expected to...Read More
TEL AVIV, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Israel's economy grew an annualised 3.5 percent in the third quarter, slower than previously thought on a much smaller gain in exports, the Central Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday.In a preliminary estimate last month, the bureau said gross domestic product grew an annualised 4.1 percent, faster than the average forecast of 2.5 percent in a Reuters poll.Growth in th...Read More
Cairo, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Egypt will keep its customs exchange rate steady at 16 pounds per dollar for January, the finance ministry said on Sunday."The decision is consistent with the currency price stabilization in the past period," it said in a statement.Egypt began setting a monthly fixed customs exchange rate in January, following the flotation of its pound currency in November 2016...Read More
WINDHOEK, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Namibia's stock of foreign reserves declined at the end of November to a five-month low of 28.5 billion Namibian dollars($2.31 billion), according to central bank monetary and banking statistics seen by Reuters on Sunday.The level of international reserves declined from 31.6 billion Namibian dollars ($2.56 billion) at the end of October, mainly due to exchange rate flu...Read More
BEIJING, Dec 31 (Reuters) - China will maintain prudent monetary policy and reasonable loan growth in 2018, central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan said in comments published on Sunday.In a new year's message, Governor Zhou said that in 2017 the People's Bank of China (PBOC) had strengthened macro-economic controls, deepened financial reform, prevented systemic financial risks and promoted finance to se...Read More
(Updates death toll)KINSHASA, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Congolese security forces killed at least four people on Sunday during protests against President Joseph Kabila's refusal to step down from office, according to the police and rights groups. Three people were killed in altercations with security forces in the capital, Kinshasa, police spokesman Pierrot Mwanamputu said. Rights groups said at least t...Read More
DUBAI, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's National Commercial Bank (NCB), the kingdom's largest lender, said on Sunday its board had proposed increasing the bank's capital by 10 billion riyals ($2.7 billion) through issuing bonus shares to help support growth.In a statement to the Saudi stock market, NCB said it will increase its capital to 30 billion riyals from retained earnings, by issuing one b...Read More
DUBAI, Dec 31 (Reuters) - The Qatar central bank's international reserves and foreign currency liquidity rose slightly in November, official data showed on Sunday, as capital outflows caused by sanctions imposed by other Arab states appeared to ease.The reserves and liquidity, a measure of the central bank's ability to support the riyal currency, increased to $36.9 billion last month from $36.1 bi...Read More
By Sinead CarewDec 29 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks are expected to keep rising in 2018 because a massive drop in the corporate tax rate is seen boosting the economy and corporate profits, but strategists say sizable gains could either be short-lived or elusive.The bull market is on track to mark its ninth birthday in March, with the S&P 500 climbing 20 percent for 2017 - its biggest increase since...Read More
Some monthly charts of interest in the commodity sector, including precious metals.CRB Index dwells below key resistance. A break of 200 would target around 250 in 2018. CRB/SPX Ratio shows the utter devastation of the Goldilocks era of Central Bank inflation with no apparent consequences. This is not likely to last.WTI Crude Oil sits below resistance at 62-63, with a target of 75.NatGas is a bask...Read More
Imaginationsof the Misguided It’s Christmas 2017 and North Korean Dear Leader Kim Jong-un is facinga crisis. Recently the United States, with UN approval, imposed the harshestround of economic sanctions yet on his reclusive regime. While North Korea has been sanctioned since 2006 due to continuingattempts to develop nuclear weapons, this new provocation by its sworn nemesisis the last s...Read More
...and goodbye to 2017, which is ending with a last gasp effort from the precious metals as gold closes the year just above the long defended $1300 level and silver makes it back above $17.00 at the close. The DJIA had its own new all-time high at 24837.51 on Thursday, but on Friday it was dragged lower by end of year selling - tax related perhaps? - not the typical selected ramping higher by fund...Read More
Michael S. "Mickey" Fulp is a Certified Professional Geologist with over 29 years experience as an exploration geologist searching for economic deposits of base and precious metals, industrial minerals, coal, uranium, and water in North and South America and China. Mickey has worked for junior explorers, major mining companies, private companies, and investors as a consulting economic geologist fo...Read More
Some monthly charts of interest in the commodity sector, including precious metals.CRB Index dwells below key resistance. A break of 200 would target around 250 in 2018.CRB/SPX Ratio shows the utter devastation of the Goldilocks era of Central Bank inflation with no apparent consequences. This is not likely to last.WTI Crude Oil sits below resistance at 62-63, with a target of 75.NatGas is a baske...Read More
Conservative Gold High Target for 2018: $1434Flashback to Stateside Tax Day, 15 April 2013. Do you remember what really got "taxed" that day? Gold: high-to-low it fell 160 points from 1495 to 1335, the largest single-day points thrashing through this millennium's 17 years, and on a percentage basis (-10.7%), the third worst of the bunch. Following that fallout, Gold continued through springtime at...Read More
The U.S. Dollar is not ruling the seas of global commerce anymore. In 2018, non-Dollar platforms will continue the Dollar's decline, Dr. Jim Willie tells Silver Doctors.The Dollar has been the world reserve currency for decades, but the increase of non-Dollar trade is threatening the Dollar's dominance.Jim Willie is a statistical analyst in marketing research and retail forecasting. He holds a PhD...Read More