(Adds details, updates to close)TORONTO, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index closed at a three-week high on Friday, with energy companies leading gains across the board on higher oil prices.* The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index rose 130.28 points, or 0.84 percent, to 15,638.45.* The energy group gained 1.5 percent. * Energy-related companies Enerplus Corp , CES Energy...Read More

The Dow posted strong gains for a second straight day, as stocks rallied into the weekend. An extended slide in Treasury yields helped spark another round of buying in equities, as did easing concerns about accelerated Fed rate hikes. The S&P 500and Nasdaq also posted impressive wins -- with the latter snapping a four-day losing streak -- as tech and healthcare stocks outperformed. Thanks to the b...Read More

Stratabound Minerals Corp. (TSX-V:SB) ("Stratabound" or "the Company") is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") offering of up to 7,272,727 units (the "Units") of the Company, at a price of $0.055 per Unit, for gross proceeds of up to $400,000.Read full newsRead More

By Jonathan SpicerNEW YORK, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve policymakers fretted on Friday that they could face the next U.S. recession with virtually the same arsenal of policies used in the last downturn and, with interest rates still relatively low, those will not pack the same punch.In the midst of an unprecedented leadership transition, Fed officials are publicly debating whether to scrap...Read More

TORONTO, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index closed at a three-week high on Friday, with energy companies leading gains across the board. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 130.28 points, or 0.84 percent, at 15,638.45. (Reporting by Nichola Saminather; Editing by Sandra Maler) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not...Read More

LIMA, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Peru had a current account deficit of 1.3 percent of the gross domestic product in 2017, its smallest in the last eight years, thanks to higher revenues from its mining exports, the central bank said on Friday.The current account is the broadest measure of a country's foreign transactions encompassing trade, services, and financial flows including interest payments. The de...Read More

NEW YORK, Feb 23 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rallied on Friday, lifted by gains in technology stocks and a retreat in Treasury yields as the Federal Reserve eased concerns about the path of interest rate hikes this year.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 348.61 points, or 1.4 percent, to 25,311.09, the S&P 500 gained 43.44 points, or 1.61 percent, to 2,747.4 and the Nasdaq Composite added 127.3...Read More

Feb 23 (Reuters) - Data-sharing business Dropbox Inc on Friday filed for an initial public offering of up to $500 million with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.The company said it plans to have its common stock listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "DBX". Goldman Sachs & Co LLC, J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank Securities are some of the leading underwriters for the IP...Read More

* Dollar on pace for weekly gain of 0.8 pct* Euro weakens as political risks loom (Updates prices, market activity)By Saqib Iqbal AhmedNEW YORK, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The dollar edged higher against a basket of major currencies on Friday, extending its recovery from a three-year low last week, as the potential for a more aggressive U.S. Federal Reserve prompted investors to pare bearish bets against...Read More

By Ann SaphirLOS ANGELES, Feb 23 (Reuters) - San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams on Friday stood by the U.S. central bank's guidance for gradual rate hikes ahead, saying that the economic outlook has not fundamentally changed from when that guidance was issued."I think the U.S. economy is doing really well," Williams said at Town Hall Los Angeles. But he added it h...Read More

NEW YORK, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Speculators' net short dollar bets shrank slightly to a seven-week low, in the latest week, according to calculations by Reuters and Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday.The value of the net short dollar positions, derived from net positions of International Monetary Market speculators in the yen, euro, British pound, Swiss franc and Canadian an...Read More

Health and fitness device maker Fitbit Inc (NYSE:FIT) is set to report its fourth-quarter earnings after the close on Monday. FIT stock has had a rough go on the charts over the past couple of months, struggling since an analyst-induced bear gap in mid-December. FIT has shed 13% year-to-date, and touched a record low of $4.90 earlier this month. At last check, the stock was up 1% to trade at $5.27...Read More

Matt Maley, equity strategist with Miller Tabak, is eyeing a key level in the gold chart.Read full newsRead More

Wallbridge Mining Company (TSX:WM, FWB:WC7) got featured on CBC for hosting and training a group of geologists called Next Gen Geo to get jobs in the mining industry.Read full newsRead More

U.S. stocks have steadily climbed today, as the Dow heads for another triple-digit victory. Among other names making noise, gun stock American Outdoor Brands Corp (NASDAQ:AOBC) and biotech stock Anika Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ANIK) are lower, while Chinese mobile app concern Momo Inc (NASDAQ:MOMO) is soaring. Here's a closer look at what shares of AOBC, ANIK, and MOMO are reacting to today.Gun...Read More

Gold is under pressure on the reduced concern of the US inflation. Lower physical demand from India and China is also affecting gold. Gold is trading around $1330, in New York session, edging down by 0.18% on the reduced concerns about the US inflation and subsequent slump in US bond yields on Friday Global bond yields are ticking lower after comments by US policymakers’, downplaying the U...Read More

* Shares in U.S., Europe, Asia all higher* U.S. dollar ticks up, denting euro* Gold heading for biggest weekly drop since December (Adds settled oil prices; updates throughout)By Hilary RussNEW YORK, Feb 23 (Reuters) - World shares rose broadly on Friday, with technology stocks lifting Wall Street, while gold neared its biggest weekly loss this year as investors shrugged off concerns about interes...Read More

Interactive Investor's Richard Hunter tells Proactive's Andrew Scott Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON:LLOY) dished out bigger returns this week to shareholders after higher profits, stronger revenues and improved capital generation in 2017 ... however he says they're not out of the woods just yet.Hunter also looks back on Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (LON:RBS) which reported its first full year p...Read More

CHICAGO, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Debt sales for airports in Houston and Los Angeles are part of$5.43 billion in bonds and notes set to hit the U.S. municipal market next week, according to Thomson Reuters estimates on Friday.Houston's new and refunding subordinate lien deal includes about $135 million of bonds subject to the alternative minimum tax (AMT) with serial maturities from 2019 through 2041 an...Read More

(Adds detail)FRANKFURT, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank has bought enough bonds so that it could retreat from further purchases without risking an unwarranted rise in longer-dated bond yields, ECB executive board member Benoit Coeure said on Friday.Once the bank's purchases hit a critical threshold, it needs fewer additional buys to contain yields at the longer end of the curve and t...Read More