Strengths? ? The best performing precious metal for the week was gold, off only 0.45 percent. The yellow metal is continuing its strong showing. Gold futures had its sixth straight quarterly gain in the first three months of this year - the longest stretch of gains since 2011. Bullion rose 4.8 percent in the first quarter. Last week, the gold market was thrown into turmoil as logis...Read More
The stock market wafted last week into a psychologically surreal zone somewhere between terror and, if not greed, then at least jittery optimism. How can stocks rally at all when no one can predict whether the deadly spread of coronoavirus is about to overwhelm America as it did Italy? The economic picture remains just as murky, since odds the global economy will fall into a full-blown depressio...Read More
The recent range trade in gold and silver will be broken soon and a new range will be formed. Physical gold supplies are expected to rise with Swiss gold refiners opening. I am doubtful whether they will be able to meet the current demand. Gold mines supplies are less. Russia has said that it's central bank will not buying gold at the moment. Russia will sell it mined gold in the market. Russia'...Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices continued to move downward in the week ended Friday April 3, with reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic responsible for further lockdowns around the world, bringing trading to a halt in key export markets.Turkish import prices plungeUS export market pausesTaiwan import price dips on lower demandTrading remains at a halt in India.TurkeyPrices for scrap imported into Turkey f...Read More
Demand for slab originating from the Commonwealth of Independent States came from China only during the week to Monday April 6, as activity in other outlets was disrupted due to the effects of Covid-19 pandemic.A 40,000-tonne cargo of Russia-origin slab to be shipped from the port of Saint Petersburg was reported sold to China at $347 per tonne cfr. Another mill sold a 50,000-tonne cargo to the sa...Read More
Moon Iron and Steel (Misco) started production of billet at its facility in Sohar, Oman in the week starting March 30, sources close to the company told Fastmarkets.Misco has an electric arc furnace, ladle furnace and a five-strand continuous billet caster with a production capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per year.The company will also...Read More
Prices in the major global steel billet markets continued to soften in the week to Friday April 3 due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.Lack of demand for finished steel products, together with continuing uncertainty about how long the disruptions will last, were the major reasons for the negative sentiment.Even in China, which has been one of the main billet buyers recently, demand was expe...Read More
Southern Silver Exploration Corp. has agreed to purchase the El Sol mineral claim in Durango for US$300,000. In a news release, Southern Silver Exploration Corp. (SSV:TSX.V; SSVFF:OTCQB; SEG1:FSE) announced that "it has entered into an agreement with Monarca Minerals Inc. (MMN:TSX.V) to purchase the El Sol mineral claim in Durango, Mexico."The company advised that the claim is situated contiguous...Read More
With his portfolio "solidly anchored" in silver and gold, sector expert Michael Ballanger opines on how bankers and politicians can manipulate markets. As a child, I used to get quite excited at the prospect of having my English "Gran" read me the Hans Christian Andersen book "The Emperor's New Clothes." I found the tale fiendishly amusing, as the charlatan tailor uses lethal doses of flattery an...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday April 6 that are worth another look.Italian stainless steelmaker Acciai Speciali Terni (AST) has resumed production, following a week of downtime in response to the coronavirus pandemic, sources told Fastmarkets on April 6.The Covid-19 pandemic may have just sealed the fate of already-struggling aluminium smelting capacity.Chile's s...Read More
The European high-carbon ferro-chrome market cemented its recovery over the past week, with industry sources reporting higher spot prices amid supply worries from South Africa and India, both of which are on multi-week lockdowns. The low-phosphorous price also ticked up week on week, as did Turkish lumpy chrome ore, while the UG2 index to China remained flat. Sources attributed the price rises to...Read More
The Dow finished the day more than 1,600 higherThe Dow, with help from Boeing (BA), continued its rally to start the week, closing up over 1,600 points. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 both closed at 7% or above with utilities, materials, and tech sectors surging. Investors were encouraged by the appearance of slowing coronavirus rates in New York and Europe as well as the Trump Administration's announcem...Read More
Overall options volume is pacing in the 99th annual percentile todayThe20 stocks listed in the table below have attracted the highest weekly options volume during the past 10 trading days, with data courtesy of Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White. Stocks highlighted in yellow are new to the list. One name that sticks out is Luckin Coffee Inc (NASDAQ:LK), with the recent volatile s...Read More
Huya's 80-day moving average has had bearish implications in the past Shares of the Chinese gaming platform HUYA Inc (NYSE:HUYA) are making another attempt to close their early March bear gap today, up 3.1% at $16.46 at last check. This comes right on the heels of Friday's failed rally, sparked by news that Tencent (TME) moved forward with an option, making it the majority shareholder in HUYA. Whi...Read More
GM puts are all the rage latelyAs many experts estimate the COVID-19 pandemic will reach its peak in the U.S. this week, General Motors (NYSE: GM) asked its 600 suppliers to help manufacture medical masks by offering to share its manufacturing plans for producing personal protective equipment. GM is expected to produce 20,000 masks which will be ready to deliver by April 8. Plus, a Reuters report...Read More
J.P. Morgan Securities downgraded JBLU to "neutral" from "overweight"JetBlue Airways Corp (NASDAQ: JBLU) is up 7% to trade at $8.05 at last check. This comes amid a slew of skepticism and downgrades throughout the airline sector. J.P. Morgan Securities is increasingly convinced that the airline industry's road to recovery back to 2019 levels of output will be a multi-year affair. The analyst subse...Read More
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are also up big at middayThe Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is beginning the new week with fantastic strength, currently up over 1,000 points at midday. The Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) are soaring as well, as investors remain hopeful amid reports of stabilizing hospital rates in the U.S. Building off this silver lining are reports from New York...Read More
Guggenheim upgraded EBAY from "neutral" to "buy"Ebay Inc (NASDAQ: EBAY) is joining in on the broad market rally today, up 4.5% to trade at $30.70 at last check. This comes after Guggenheim upgraded the "increasingly defensive" EBAY stock from "neutral" to "buy," citing the company's valuation and minimal inventory risk.Since mid-February highs just below $40, Ebay has careened to an annual low on...Read More
Kraft Heinz said it will slow restaurant supply production, while ramping up output in its packaged food units Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC) announced that it has significantly decreased restaurant supply production at three plants, two in the U.S. and one in the U.K., in response to dwindling consumer demand, specifically in Europe. Meanwhile, Kraft said its packaged food units are working in three...Read More
Gilead said it plans on producing 1 million treatment courses of its experimental coronavirus drug by the end of 2020Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) is up 1% to trade at $79 this morning after the drugmaker said it plans on ramping up production on its experimental coronavirus treatment remdesivir, to 1 million treatment courses by the end of the year. Currently 1.5 million doses of the drug,...Read More