ROME (Reuters) - The prospect of an election re-run in July grew on Monday as Italian President Sergio Mattarella held a final round of consultations to try to break two months of political deadlock with party leaders still far apart.The leaders of the two parties with most parliamentary seats, the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the far-right League, suggested an election should be held on...Read More

(Kitco News) - Money managers slashed their bullishpositioning in gold futures by 61% and flipped back to a net bearish positionin silver during the most recent reporting week for data compiled by theCommodity Futures Trading Commission. “The CFTC’s statistics show thatspeculative market participants were significantly more pessimistic in the weekto 1 May,” said a research no...Read More

(Kitco News) - Money managers slashed their bullish positioning in gold futures by 61% and flipped back to a net bearish position in silver during the most recent reporting week for data compiled by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. “The CFTC’s statistics show that speculative market participants were significantly more pessimistic in the week to 1 May,” said a resear...Read More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Talks to update the NAFTA trade deal enter a make-or-break week on Monday, as ministers from Canada, the United States and Mexico seek to resolve an impasse in key areas before elections in Mexico and the United States complicate the process.Discussions in Washington will center on rules of origin that govern what percentage of a car needs to be built in the North American F...Read More

The struggles for gold continue,as commercials are short the metal in record numbers. Interestingly enough,their short position in silver has never been this small. The commercialsaren't always right, but it's hard to fight them because of the amount ofcapital they have at their disposal.Gold remains weak and every rallyis met by sellers, with gold making lower highs and lower lows, indicating the...Read More

(Kitco News)- Gold begins the week on a defensive note as the dollarcontinues well bid. It remains a case wherecomparisons show U.S. growth continues tooutperform the E.U. and Japan. The eurocould not recover the 1.20 euro/dollar level last week and the technical picturesuggests further “short-term” dollar strength. Repatriation of corporateoverseas dollar holdings has also added to do...Read More

Several Fed speakers are on tap todayDow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are trading well above fair value, as stocks look to build off the momentum from Friday's tech rally. Attracting attention today are surging oil prices, with June-dated crude futures up 1.3% at $70.62 per barrel -- trading near levels not seen since 2014 -- ahead of this Saturday's deadline for U.S. President Donald...Read More

Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are weighing in favorably on MCD sharesMcDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) is 1% higher in electronic trading, after Goldman Sachs added the stock to its "conviction buy" list and set a $185 price target, saying the pullback in MCD shares presents a buying opportunity. Citigroup also weighed in bullishly, expecting the fast food company's transition to fresh beef to resul...Read More

By Chip Cummins in London and James T. Areddy in Shanghai This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (May 7, 2018). Mining giant Glencore PLC and Qatar said they have scrapped plans to sell a roughly $9 billion stake in Russian state oil company PAO Rosneft to a once-high-flying Ch...Read More

The SPY 260 area remains a key level for stocks to hold as range-bound trading continuesIt was d?(C)j? vu last week, as the day-to-day market action felt just like prior weeks. In other words, a lot of movement that amounted to nothing but noise from the perspective of weekly closing levels. My Friday mid-afternoon tweet below, listing the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust's (SPY - 266.02) weekly closes goi...Read More

May 7 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index futures rose on Monday, helped by oil prices that touched their highest levels since late-2014 on the back of Venezuela's deepening economic crisis.June futures on the S&P TSX index were up 0.06 percent at 7:15 a.m. ET.No major economic indicators are scheduled for release.The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX rose 107.93 points, or 0.69 percent,...Read More

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose to their highest levels since late-2014 on Monday, boosted by Venezuela’s deepening economic crisis and a looming decision on whether the United States will re-impose sanctions on Iran.Brent crude oil futures were at $75.67 per barrel at 1126 GMT, up 80 cents from their last close. Earlier in the session they touched their highest since November 2014 at $75...Read More

* Bond yields dip, market supported by ECB rate outlook* Oil prices jump, German industrial orders fall* Trade subdued due to London holiday* Euro zone periphery govt bond yields tmsnrt.rs/2ii2Bqr (Updates prices, Italy political news)By Dhara RanasingheLONDON, May 7 (Reuters) - Euro zone government bond yields dipped on Monday as an unexpected fall in German industrial orders served as a remind...Read More

(Reuters) - Blackstone Group LP (BX.N) said on Monday it would buy Gramercy Property Trust (GPT.N), which is an asset manager of commercial real estate, in a deal valued at $7.6 billion in cash.The $27.50-per-share offer represents a premium of 15.4 percent to Gramercy Property’s close on Friday at $23.82.Reporting by Arunima Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr Disclaimer: The vie...Read More

LONDON (Reuters) - A resurgent dollar and higher borrowing costs are smashing through Argentina and Turkey’s currencies like a wrecking ball and raising the likelihood more broadly that emerging markets’ three-year long interest rate cutting cycle is at an end.Emerging markets came into the year flying, riding on the back of a healthy global economy and rising commodity prices alongsid...Read More

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Seven miners were killed at Sibanye-Stillwater’s Masakhane mine while six others are recovering in hospital after being trapped underground for two days, the company said on Saturday.A total of 13 miners had been trapped at the mine located in its Driefontein operations west of Johannesburg on Thursday after an earthquake caused a cave-in, in a country that is home t...Read More

LONDON/ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss-based food giant Nestle will pay Starbucks $7.15 billion in cash for the rights to sell the U.S. coffee chain’s products around the world in a global alliance aimed at reinvigorating their coffee empires.The deal on Monday for a business with $2 billion in sales reinforces Nestle’s position as the world’s biggest coffee company tries to fortify its...Read More

BEIJING, May 7 (Reuters) -* China gold reserves were at 59.240 million fine troy ounces at end-April, unchanged vs end-March, the central bank said on Monday. (Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Sunil Nair) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of info...Read More

* China’s FX reserves fall by $17.97 bln in April* Economists had expected reserves to drop by about $10 bln* Stronger dollar seen depressing value of reserves (Adds FX regulator, analyst comments)By Kevin Yao and Fang ChengBEIJING, May 7 (Reuters) - China’s foreign exchange reserves in April fell more than expected, to a five-month low, as the U.S. dollar rebounded and on growing sign...Read More

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany and France on Monday vowed to stand by the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers even if the United States pulls out, with the German foreign minister saying the world would be less safe without it.U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to retreat from the deal by not extending sanctions waivers when they expire on May 12, unless European signatories of the...Read More