* Gold seen averaging $1,273/oz this year, $1,300/oz in 2019 * Silver seen at $15.80/oz this year, $16.40/oz next year * Individual forecastsBy Peter Hobson and Sumita LayekLONDON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Banks and brokerages have cuttheir average gold price forecasts for this year and 2019 afterthe metal slumped to 19-month lows in August, but they stillexpect prices to stage a modest recovery, a Reut...Read More
Cobalt spot market prices for both high- and low-grade material increased week on week on Wednesday October 24 on bullish sentiment that was fueled by supply tightness in the United States, arising from sanctions on Chinese metal, Fastmarkets has heard.Although the cobalt spot market was unusually slow last week, due to industry conferences and the beginning of contract price negotiations, the dea...Read More
* Palladium seen at $993/oz this year, $1,025/oz next year * Platinum seen averaging $882/oz in 2018, $875/oz in 2019 * Individual forecastsBy Peter Hobson and Sumita LayekLONDON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Palladium's price premium overplatinum will widen next year, with palladium set for its bestyear on record while platinum slumps to its worst performancesince 2004, a Reuters poll showed on Monday.Shor...Read More
The Monday Market Minute Global stocks edge cautiously higher as investors continue to focus on developments in the U.S. corporate earnings season and rising geo-political risks.China stocks tumble, with the Shanghai Composite falling 2.2%, after weaker industrial profit data and further signs of slowing growth in the world's second largest economy.European stocks book modestly gains, with HSBC...Read More
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's yuan closed at its weakest in over a decade on Monday, losing 0.16 percent to end the domestic session at 6.9560 per dollar CNY=CFXS, stirring speculation over whether the central bank will tolerate a slide beyond the key level of 7 per dollar.Broad dollar strength, as concerns swirl over risks of a global economic slowdown, was the main influence in the currency mark...Read More
Global antimony continued to trade last week amid weak demand for the metal, with prices remaining unchanged in both China and Europe on scarce spot market activity.In China, Fastmarkets MB's price assessment for Chinese Minor Metals Trade Association (MMTA) standard grade-II antimony price, delivered, duty-paid, was 51,000-51,500 yuan ($7,341-7,412) per tonne on Wednesday October 24, unchang...Read More
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Three former London-based currency traders were found not guilty on Friday of U.S. charges that they schemed to rig benchmark exchange rates, the latest verdict to emerge from a U.S. probe into the multitrillion-dollar foreign exchange market.Chris Ashton, Rohan Ramchandani and Richard Usher, who worked at Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co, respectively,...Read More
* Euro falls briefly on Merkel report * Dollar near 10-week high * Major currencies stick to tight ranges * Yen strengthens as investors seek safety from equitylosses * Graphic: World FX rates in 2018 (Recasts with Merkel report, adds quote, updates prices)By Tom FinnLONDON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - The euro briefly weakened onMonday after a report that German Chancellor Angela Merkel willnot seek re-el...Read More
LONDON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - The euro fell briefly and Germangovernment bond yields rose on Monday, after a report thatGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel has told leaders of herChristian Democrats (CDU) that she will not seek re-election asparty chairwoman in December. Merkel has been CDU chairwoman since 2000 and giving up therole would start a race within the party to succeed her aschancellor.The eur...Read More
Turkish steel producers have continued to book cargoes in the deep-sea scrap trade, with two more transactions coming to light, pushing prices up further on Monday October 29.These two deals were heard on Friday after the data submission deadline for the day.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $335 per tonne, shredded at $340 per tonne and...Read More
Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday that her party's dismal showing in weekend elections has meant her coalition government has "lost credibility" and that she will step down as party leader and retire from politics when her current term as leader of Europe's biggest economy ends in 2021. Merkel's told Christian Democrat leaders that she will stand down as leader of the party that has ruled Ger...Read More
* STOXX50E up 0.7 pct as Italy relief boosts European shares * Italian bank stocks rise after S&P keeps rating unchanged * China data shows slowing industrial profits growth * EM stocks rise after Bolsonaro wins Brazil election * Crude prices tumble as investors price in easing growthBy Helen ReidLONDON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Concern over China's slowingeconomy dented U.S. stock futures and kept...Read More
By Peter HobsonBOSTON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) has hired four people for its metals business in NewYork after losing six traders and salesmen who defected to rivalCanadian lender Bank of Montreal (BMO) last month,sources said.The move signals that Scotia, whose Mocatta metals arm hasfor years been the world's biggest lender to the physicalprecious metals industry, is co...Read More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture is not planning to extend an up to $12 billion aid package for farmers into 2019, Secretary Sonny Perdue said on Monday, to mitigate farmer losses due to the imposition of tariffs on American exports.“Farmers are very resilient and adept in making their planning and marketing decisions based on the current market,” Perdue told r...Read More
Comex copper prices edged higher Monday morning in the US with the market holding steady amid further Chinese stock market deterioration. The copper price for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched up 1.25 cents to $2.7535 per lb.Concerns of a slowdown in the Chinese economy continue to weigh on Asian shares, with the Shanghai Composite falling 2.2% ov...Read More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co will not finish paying back the estimated 600,000 customers it wrongly charged for auto insurance until at least 2020, the bank said in a letter to U.S. lawmakers seen by Reuters.U.S. regulators slapped Wells Fargo with a $1 billion penalty in April when it admitted to wrongly forcing drivers into auto insurance policies. That agreement envisioned the cu...Read More
HONG KONG (Reuters) - A five-year old Chinese smartphone company whose high-end products are little known outside a tech-savvy niche is entering the U.S. market on Monday with the backing of two key local allies: chipmaking giant Qualcomm (QCOM.O) and mobile operator T-Mobile.The foray by Shenzhen-based OnePlus comes after U.S. mobile carriers AT&T and Verizon this year backed away from plans...Read More
* Hammond touts possible end to austerity with Brexit deal* BoE meets on Thursday; rates will likely be left unchanged* Graphic: World FX rates in 2018 tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh* Graphic: Trade-weighted sterling since Brexit vote tmsnrt.rs/2hwV9HvLONDON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - The pound drifted lower on Monday as Britain’s finance minister Philip Hammond laid out the prospect of an end to austerity so...Read More
The Chinese were the first civilization to use coal.Archaeological evidence shows the black rock being used in China over 6,000 years ago.Coal was key in enabling the Chinese to develop sophisticated economic, political, and cultural systems. And it continued to fuel China for millennia.Public pressure to reduce carbon emissions has increased in the past few decades. And as a result, China has mad...Read More
LONDON (Reuters) - The British government has set out its exit strategy from its biggest taxpayer-funded bailout of the financial crisis, announcing plans to sell all of its shares in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) by 2024.The government owns 62.4 percent of RBS, Britain’s fourth-biggest bank by market value, which it rescued in 2008 with a 45.5 billion pound capital injection.The Office for...Read More