NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve bought no agency mortgage-backed securities in the weekfrom Oct. 18 to Oct. 24, compared with $425 million purchased the previous week, the New York Federal Reserve Bank said on Thursday.In a move to help the housing market begun in October 2011, the U.S. central bank has been using funds from principal paymentson the agency debt and agency mortgage-backed...Read More
Apparent steel consumption in the EU is expected to grow in 2018-19, but "trade frictions with the US and cooling global demand" increase the uncertainty in the market and might lead to weaker prospects for European steel users, regional steel association Eurofer said on Thursday October 25.European apparent steel consumption will increase by 2.2% year-on-year to 163 million tonnes in the full yea...Read More
HOUSTON/RIO DE JANIERO (Reuters) - Chevron Corp (CVX.N) has held talks to acquire Pasadena Refining System Inc (PRSI), a Texas oil refining unit of Brazilian state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4.SA), three people familiar with the matter said this week.U.S. oil companies are looking to expand refining operations to handle rising volumes of crude flowing from the country’s shale f...Read More
Imported steel billet prices in Egypt widened upward in the week ended Thursday October 25, although demand in the country remained weak.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet imported into Egypt was $480-490 per tonne cfr on Thursday, compared with $480-485 per tonne cfr last week.The assessment nudged upward because offers at the higher...Read More
ROME (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Italy's prime minister was working very hard on the economy and would be successful.His comment on Twitter came only days after the European Commission rejected Italy's 2019 budget, saying it broke EU rules on public spending, and asked Rome to submit a new one within three weeks or face disciplinary action.Trump also said he agree...Read More
Import prices for steel billet in Southeast Asia edged down on Thursday October 25 amid lower offers and lackluster domestic sales for finished steel.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for billet imported into Southeast Asia was $505-510 per tonne cfr Manila on Thursday, narrowing downward by $5 per tonne from $505-515 per tonne cfr on Wednesday.The assessment range declined from $510-515 per ton...Read More
LONDON (Reuters) - Banks in Britain must hold enough cash to withstand any disorderly Brexit hitting financial markets next March, Bank of England Deputy Governor Sam Woods said on Thursday.Woods said he was making sure that Britain’s departure from the European Union is as smooth as possible for markets, even if there is no exit deal between London and Brussels.“Just in case things go...Read More
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican central bank governor Alejandro Diaz de Leon said on Thursday that there is no indication that client resources in the financial system were affected by a recent cyber attack on insurer AXA.AXA said on Tuesday that it suffered a cyber attack on Monday, but that its clients' information and resources were safe and had not been affected.Reporting by Anthony Esposito;...Read More
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) shares jumped as much as 22 percent on Thursday, putting them on track for their biggest one-day gain, as the social media company easily beat Wall Street’s revenue and profit estimates by selling more ads even though it lost users after purging millions of fake accounts.The surge in shares reversed a 19 percent fall three months ago when Twitter sho...Read More
Buyers in the export market for pig iron from the Commonwealth of Independent States have been keeping an eye on the United States, the world's largest consumer of merchant pig iron.Fastmarkets' export price assessment for high-manganese pig iron from the CIS was $360-375 per tonne fob Black Sea on October 25, widening upward from $360-370 per tonne a week earlier.Once the price of hot-rolled coil...Read More
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Daimler (DAIGn.DE) Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche on Thursday said customer demand remains strong even as a regulatory crackdown on diesel cars and a 13 percent sales slowdown for Mercedes-Benz cars in Germany weighed on third-quarter earnings.“The automotive industry and thus also Daimler are still in a very challenging environment. The continued high demand from our c...Read More
OSLO (Reuters) - Military forces from 31 countries began NATO’s largest exercise in decades, stretching from the Baltic Sea to Iceland, on Thursday, practicing military maneuvers close to Russia, which itself held a huge military drill last month.As temperatures fell below freezing across training grounds in central Norway, giving a taste of what it means to defend NATO’s vast northern...Read More
(Reuters) - Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX is looking to borrow $500 million in the leveraged loan market through Goldman Sachs, which is leading talks with potential investors this week, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.The news comes weeks after SpaceX picked Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa as its first private passenger on a voyage around the moon.SpaceX has upended the space industry with...Read More
Import prices for steel scrap in Turkey remained flat while rumors of bookings in the deep-sea market made by the country's steel producers were unconfirmed on Thursday October 25.Reports of two deep-sea cargo trades came to light but market participants were unable to confirm significant details.A steel mill in the Marmara region was reported to have booked a Baltic Sea cargo of...Read More
(Reuters) - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) shares jumped on Thursday as Wall Street analysts said the company had turned a corner with profitable third quarter results and might not now need to raise outside capital.Rising 12 percent at one point in early trading, the move in shares added as much as $6 billion to Tesla’s market value, capping a tumultuous few months for the company and its billionaire c...Read More
Tight supply of Australian iron ore continued to support the market for the steelmaking raw material on Thursday October 25, with the benchmark 62% Fe index rising above $76 per tonne cfr China.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $76.04 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $1.31 per tonne.MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $75.07 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $1.31 per tonne.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $...Read More
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s investment forum was designed to showcase the kingdom’s new future away from oil, but it was black gold and old allies that rescued this week’s event from the furor over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.Riyadh inked multi-billion dollar agreements, mainly energy deals, despite a boycott of the event by dozens of high-level Western politi...Read More
CloseGain/LossGold $1230.30-$2.30Silver$14.62-$0.05XAU64.72-4.86%HUI143.41-6.05%GDM529.19-4.34%JSE Gold1200.51-9.70USD96.63+0.26Euro113.75-0.23Yen89.02+0.02Oil$67.33+$0.5110-Year3.124%+0.020T-Bond138.65625-0.125Dow24984.55+1.63%Nasdaq7318.34+2.95%S&P2705.57+1.86% The Metals: Gold gained $6.50 to $1239.10 in Asia before it dropped back to $1230.40 at about 4AM EST and then...Read More
By Jordan Roy-Byrne CMT, MFTA The US$ index is breaking higher. Its trading at 96.41 as we pen this. A daily close above 96.61 marks a new 52-week high and puts the dollar in position to eventually retest its bull market high at 104. If this strength continues then the relief rally in precious metals could be over. So why is that a bullish catalyst for Gold? First, we know that a real bul...Read More
By PlungerIn light of the volatile market action since my last report two weeks ago I am dedicating this report towards the big picture view. I have been presenting the post bubble contraction (PBC) model to you all year long, however I am convinced many still don't recognize this is actually playing out before their eyes. The noise of daily news events and market commentary has the effect of...Read More