* Treasury to auction $35 bln in five-year notes* Two-year yield hits nine-year high By Kate DuguidNEW YORK, Feb 21 - U.S. Treasury yields were steady on Wednesday ahead of an auction of $35 billion in five-year notes, part of the week's $258 billion issuance intended to help fund President Donald Trump's tax overhaul and two-year budget deal. The tax overhaul bill signed into law in December is...Read More

LONDON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - The head of the Democratic Unionist Party Arlene Foster said on Wednesday she had asked British Prime Minister Theresa May to take steps to set a budget for Northern Ireland during a meeting aimed at restoring the region's power-sharing government."We wanted to impress upon her the need and urgency to have a budget in place for the people of Northern Ireland and I t...Read More

Weir Minerals announced the expansion of its extensive dewatering solutions portfolio with the global launch of the Multiflo (R) RF dewatering pump unit. The new Multiflo (R) RF range sets the benchmark for dewatering pump units, expertly engineered in a compact package, offering customers a light and flexible solution.Peter Smit, Product Manager for Weir Minerals Dewatering, explains: "We devel...Read More

It was a rough session for Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) stock yesterday, with the shares dropping more than 10% on poorly received earnings. It was just the third decline of at least 10% for WMT stock since Black Monday in 1987, and the ninth occurrence ever, according to Schaeffer's Quantitative Analyst Chris Prybal. However, history suggests now is an opportune time buy Walmart stock, which tends to r...Read More

Feb 21 (Reuters) - Hochschild Mining Plc expects production to grow slightly this year as it ramps up output at the Pablo vein at its Pallancata mine in Peru, the precious metals miner said on Wednesday.The company, which also operates in Argentina and Chile, has been spending on brownfield exploration and discovered high-grade resources adjacent to the main Pablo vein in Pallancata.Hochschild sai...Read More

Feb 21 (Reuters) - Hochschild Mining Plc expects production to grow slightly this year as it ramps up output at the Pablo vein at its Pallancata mine in Peru, the precious metals miner said on Wednesday.The company, which also operates in Argentina and Chile, has been spending on brownfield exploration and discovered high-grade resources adjacent to the main Pablo vein in Pallancata.Hochschild sai...Read More

(Adds CEO comments, market reaction)By Gram SlatterySAO PAULO, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Telefonica Brasil SA , the country's largest telecommunications company, on Wednesday reported that fourth-quarter profit rose 25 percent from a year ago as it increased its reliance on higher-end offerings.In a securities filing, the Brazilian unit of Spain's Telefonica SA reported net income of 1.517 billion reais...Read More

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) stock is up 3.1% to trade at $19.11 this morning, after Canaccord Genuity upped its price target on the oncology specialist to $21 from $19. The analyst in coverage is encouraged by last night's fourth-quarter and full-year results, which showed progress in HALO's ENHANZE portfolio. HALO stock rode a mid-September bull gap past former resistance near th...Read More

Exchange-tradedfunds have increased holdings of gold and silver so far this week, reportsCommerzbank. Prices of both metals fell Tuesday. “Investors appear to beviewing the price slide as a buying opportunity, however, as gold ETFs sawinflows of 2.7 tonnes yesterday,” the bank says. “Holdings in silver ETFs haverisen by 20 tonnes so far this week.” The ETFs trade like a sto...Read More

By Nichola SaminatherTORONTO, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose to a 2-1/2-week high on Wednesday led by gold producers, as investors sought shelter in the precious metal ahead of the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting.The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index opened up 0.2 percent and was trading 111.85 points, or 0.7 percent, higher...Read More

Tony Gilby, managing director of Tlou Energy Limited (LON:TLOU), discusses with Proactive's Andrew Scott their huge increase in reserves at the Lesedi and Mamba coal bed methane projects in Botswana.Proved and probable reserves (2P) jumped 944% to 40.8 billion cubic feet (BCF) 3.9 from BCF, while the less certain 3P category rose by 63% to 426.6BCF from 261.1BCF.  Meet Medusa Mining, Cora Gol...Read More

(Kitco News)- The gold market continues to ignore U.S. economic data withweaker-than-expected home sales data unable to push prices higher Wednesday.Wednesday, National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Wednesday thatexisting home sales declined 3.2% in January, to a seasonally adjusted andannualized rate of 5.38 million units, compared to December's annualized rate of5.56 million homes. Econo...Read More

Shares of e-commerce concern Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) are higher out of the gate, after receiving a price-target hike to $1,750 from $1,350 from MKM Partners, which also maintained its "buy" rating. The brokerage firm said Amazon boasts "the best growth story of all the mega-caps over the very long term," and upped its long-term earnings estimates. In response, the FAANG stock was up 1.3% a...Read More

Russia has overtaken China as the fifth-biggest sovereign holder of gold, allowing it to diversify its foreign currency holdings amid a deepening rift with the U.S.The Bank of Russia in January increased its holdings by almost 20 metric tons to 1,857 tons, topping the People's Bank of China's reported 1,843 tons. While Russia has increased its holdings every month since March 2015, China last repo...Read More

(Kitco News)- The gold market is holding on to modest gains as preliminary data shows improving sentiment in the U.S. manufacturing and service sector.Wednesday, research firm IHS Markit said in its The flash U.S. manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index for February to a reading of 55.9, up from January's reading of 55.5.Economists were expecting to see only a modest change with consensus forecast...Read More

Mosaic Co (NYSE:MOS) reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings on Monday night, citing higher potash and phosphate prices. The fertilizer firm also upped its full-year earnings forecast, sending MOS shares up 5.2% on Tuesday. The stock is up another 2.4% today to trade at $27.40, after grabbing several post-earnings bullish brokerage notes.Most notably, J.P. Morgan Securities raised it...Read More

Stock futures are slightly higher this morning, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) hoping to bounce back after snapping their six-day winning streaks. Markets are bracing for the release for the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes from last month. Stock traders will dissect the minutes for hints regarding inflation and the pace of futurerate hikes....Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold prices have moved to modestly higher levels and are at theirdaily highs in morning trading Wednesday. Traders stepped in to "buy thedip" and do some bargain hunting following Tuesday's big losses. Preciousmetals traders are still tentative ahead of this afternoon's release of theminutes of the last FOMC meeting. Aprilgold was last up $3.00 an ounce at$1,334.20. By Jim...Read More

Brokerage firm Instinet this morning weighed in on financial stocks Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF) and Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS). Analysts there cut COF shares to "neutral" from "buy" and trimmed the price target to $109 from $111, saying DFS stock offers a better valuation. The note also mentioned that Discover had better loan and sales growth over the past year, and that tre...Read More

Investment bank gives brownfield copper-gold developer buy ratingRead full newsRead More