(Kitco News)- Sentimentin the New York State manufacturing sector is improving according to the latestdata from the New York Federal Reserve.Tuesday, thegeneral business conditions index in the Empire State manufacturing survey pushedhigher, to a reading of 20.1 in May, up from April's reading of 15.8."Looking ahead, firms were somewhat more optimistic about the six-month outlook than they we...Read More

(Kitco News)- Gold futures extended overnight losses after a CommerceDepartment report Tuesday showing U.S. April retail sales rose by 0.3% to$497.6 billion.Meanwhile, sales excluding autos were alsoup 0.3%.Going into the report, consensusexpectations compiled by news organizations had been for a rise 0.3% in overallsales. Sales excluding autos were forecast to be up 0.5% or 0.6%.As of 8:42 a.m. E...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold futures extended overnight losses after a Commerce Department report Tuesday showing U.S. April retail sales rose by 0.3% to $497.6 billion.Meanwhile, sales excluding autos were also up 0.3%.Going into the report, consensus expectations compiled by news organizations had been for a rise 0.3% in overall sales. Sales excluding autos were forecast to be up 0.5% or 0.6%.As of 8:42...Read More

* Delay raises risk of deal failure, says analyst* Layoffs pose hurdle to South African approval* Shares in Lonmin, Sibanye fall (Updates with Sibanye-Stillwater quote)LONDON, May 15 (Reuters) - Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Tuesday it would examine whether a takeover of miner Lonmin by South Africa's Sibanye-Stillwater would reduce competition.The 285 million pound ($3...Read More

(Kitco News) - After gold reached $1,326, the pressure has been on and gold is ready to test the recent lows at $1,302. It would be no surprise to see gold bounce off the $1,302 level, but breaking through $1,300 is almost a certainty in the current pattern.The successive lower highs and lower lows indicate that the pressure is mounting on gold's way to $1,280. Gold is just ugly right now and the...Read More

(Kitco News)- After gold reached $1,326, thepressure has been on and gold is ready to test the recent lows at $1,302. Itwould be no surprise to see gold bounce off the $1,302 level, but breakingthrough $1,300 is almost a certainty in the current pattern.The successive lower highs andlower lows indicate that the pressure is mounting on gold's way to $1,280. Goldis just ugly right now and the added...Read More

HONG KONG, May 15 (Reuters) - Privately held gold trader Sakthi Trading Group is planning to build two gold refineries in Africa and is looking for investors for the projects, company executives said on Tuesday.The group, headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, is seeking a total investment of $246 million for the refineries and related processing centres, in Ghana and the Democratic Republic o...Read More

(Reuters) - Home Depot Inc (HD.N) on Tuesday missed Wall Street forecasts for sales at established stores, as an unusually long winter hit sales of typical spring products like lawn-mowers and patio furniture.The downbeat results - which pushed Home Depot shares down 3 percent in premarket trade - are uncommon for the top U.S. home improvement chain, which has largely bucked the trend of retailers...Read More

The answer depends a lot on how much you're willing to spend to find it.Read full newsRead More

PARIS (Reuters) - France is optimistic it can reach an agreement with Germany on proposals for a euro zone budget and other reform plans by June, with Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire saying it would be "irresponsible" to delay any longer.Since coming to power a year ago, Macron has made euro zone reform a priority, but his ability to deliver depends on reaching agreement with Germany on...Read More

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's biggest banks have begun major revamps of their domestic retail networks, as the cost of maintaining traditional branches weighs heavily at a time of diminishing revenue and a shift in how consumers conduct financial transactions.The top three lenders reported weak earnings at their core commercial banking units, propped up by lower bad loan costs, gains in stock holdings...Read More

(Reuters) - Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (FOXA.O) Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch is used to getting his way at the company he built into a media empire. But a challenge to a $52 billion deal he put together six months ago could test his sway with shareholders.Several Fox investors told Reuters they would be open to terminating the company's agreement, inked in December, to sell most of its medi...Read More

* LME/ShFE arb:* Funds still short copper * Support near May lows near $6,710-6,720 (Adds closing prices)By Pratima DesaiLONDON, May 15 (Reuters) - Copper fell on Tuesday underpressure from negative sentiment fuelled by a higher dollar andrising inventories, though upbeat industrial production datafrom China offered some support.Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange endeddown 1.1 percent a...Read More

World's largest mortgage bankers- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, would soon go bankrupt.No one believed Porter Stansberry nine years ago.As head of one of America's largest independent financial research firms, Mr. Stansberry's work back in 2008 led him to a bold, but worrisome, conclusion:That the world's largest mortgage bankers- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which at the time were responsible for ne...Read More

The answer depends a lot on how much you're willing to spend to find it.Read full newsRead More

LONDON, May 15 (Reuters) - The London Bullion MarketAssociation said on Tuesday it had suspended the EkaterinburgNon-Ferrous Metals Processing Plant from its gold and silvergood delivery lists due to "ownership related issues".The refinery in Russia is controlled by Moscow-basedconglomerate Renova Group, which along with its key shareholder,billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, was sanctioned b...Read More

   •  Reviving USD demand/surging US bond yields keeps exerting downward pressure.   •  Mixed sentiment around equity markets does little to support safe-haven demand. Gold traded with a mild negative bias for the third consecutive session and has now dropped back to its immediate support near the $1310 region. The precious metal extended its rejection slide...Read More

By Benjamin Parkin and David Hodari Gold prices fell to the lowest point this year as signs of a stronger economy pushed the U.S. dollar higher. June-dated gold contracts fell 1.8% to $1,294 a troy ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, trading at the lowest point since late December. Prices for the precious metal have traded between around $1,365 to $1,300 for most of...Read More

A 48-year-old German motorist died when his Telsa Model S crashed into a highway guardrail near the Swiss town of Bellinzona, and burst into flames trapping the driver.Read full newsRead More

* Strong U.S. bond yields underpin dollar * GRAPHIC-2018 asset returns: (Updates prices; adds comment, second byline, NEW YORK todateline)By Renita D. Young and Maytaal AngelNEW YORK/LONDON, May 15 (Reuters) - Gold slid more than 1percent on Tuesday, falling for a third day to hit its lowestthis year as a rise in U.S. borrowing costs pushed up the dollarand overshadowed the impact of strife in Gaz...Read More