* U.S. dollar enjoys bounce after recent falls* Euro slips below $1.24; yen down slightly* Trading lighter than normal with U.S., Asian holidays* Graphic: World FX rates in 2018 By Tommy WilkesLONDON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - The dollar enjoyed a small rebound on Monday as investors bought back the greenback after its plunge to three-year lows, although analysts said any recovery looked set to be brief...Read More

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), the world's top platinum producer, announced its first dividend in seven years on Monday as full-year headline earnings more than doubled and said it was not committing capital to major projects in 2018.Amplats' investment stance highlights the fragile state of platinum mining in South Africa, home to around two-thirds of known re...Read More

By Anshuman Daga and Jacob Gronholt-PedersenSINGAPORE/COPENHAGEN, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Private equity firm EQT has put Denmark-based Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC), the world's largest regional aircraft lessor, up for sale just 2-1/2 years after buying a majority stake in the company, two sources familiar with the matter said. Swedish private equity firm EQT acquired a 54 percent stake in NAC in Augu...Read More

The value of global mining and metals deals hit a four-year high in 2017, according to accountancy firm EY, boosted by a jump in money raised on stock exchanges to a six-year high.Mining and metals deals totalled $51 billion last year, up 15% from 2016. Activity was dominated by coal and steel transactions. However, the volume of deals fell 6% as M&A focus in the sector started shifting from dives...Read More

The value of global mining and metals deals hit a four-year high in 2017, according to accountancy firm EY, boosted by a jump in money raised on stock exchanges to a six-year high.Mining and metals deals totalled $51 billion last year, up 15% from 2016. Activity was dominated by coal and steel transactions. However, the volume of deals fell 6% as M&A focus in the sector started shifting from dives...Read More

The value of global mining and metals deals hit a four-year high in 2017, according to accountancy firm EY, boosted by a jump in money raised on stock exchanges to a six-year high.Mining and metals deals totalled $51 billion last year, up 15% from 2016. Activity was dominated by coal and steel transactions. However, the volume of deals fell 6% as M&A focus in the sector started shifting from dives...Read More

* Rand weakens along with emerging markets* Markets await budget speech on Wednesday* Stocks down amid low trading volumes (Adds latest figures, analyst quotes)JOHANNESBURG, Feb 19 (Reuters) - South Africa's rand weakened along with other emerging currencies on Monday as the dollar regained ground it lost last week and investors awaited details of new president Cyril Ramaphosa's plans to revive th...Read More

JAKARTA, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Indonesia issued the local unit of copper miner Freeport McMoRan Inc with a quota to export 1,247,866 wet metric tonnes (wmt) of copper concentrate up to Feb 15, 2019, a mining ministry official said on Monday.Medco Energi Internasional unit Amman Mineral Nusa Tenggara was also issued with a quota to export 450,826 wmt of copper concentrate over same period, Minerals Di...Read More

(Adds comments, background)By Polina Nikolskaya and Zlata GarasyutaMOSCOW, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Real wages in Russia rose more than expected in January but real disposable incomes could be lower than official statistics show ahead of a presidential election on March 18, analysts said on Monday. The oil-dependent economy grew 1.5 percent last year after two years of recession, missing an official for...Read More

BRATISLAVA, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Slovakia began trading of state bonds on the MTS trading platform on Monday, in an effort to increase liquidity in its secondary market and lower its risk premium, the country's debt management agency said.The central European country, a member of the euro zone since 2009, has enjoyed a comfortable borrowing position with declining budget deficits and an economy outp...Read More

(Adds CEO comments)By Carolina MandlSAO PAULO, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Shares in Brazilian insurance holding company BB Seguridade fell on Monday after management said raising profit will continue to be a challenge this year as interest rates reach their lowest level ever in the country.Shares were down 3.2 percent in mid-morning trading in Sao Paulo at 30.72 reais after BB Seguridade missed fourth-qu...Read More

Major gold-backed exchange traded products, such as the SPDR Gold Shares GLD, -0.33% and the iShares Gold Trust IAU, -0.31% are sporting solid year-to-date showings. Some market observers, however, are voicing concerns about the yellow metal after it declined during the volatility spike earlier this month. Gold's lack of positive response to the surge in the CBOE Volatility Index, also known as th...Read More

RIGA, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Latvia's ABLV Bank said on Monday it had never violated sanctions, rejecting an assertion by the US Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FCEN)."We don't participate in any illegal activities," Deputy CEO Vadims Reinfelds told a news conference. "There are no violations of sanctions."The bank said depositors had withdrawn around 60...Read More

Mosaic Co, the world's largest producer of finished phosphate products, on Monday reported a 12 percent rise in net sales driven by higher potash and phosphates prices.Plymouth, Minnesota-based Mosaic sold 2.5 million tonnes of diammonium phosphate in the fourth quarter at an average price of $348 per tonne, up from $317 per tonne a year earlier.The U.S. fertilizer company's average potash selling...Read More

Mosaic Co, the world's largest producer of finished phosphate products, on Monday reported a 12 percent rise in net sales driven by higher potash and phosphates prices.Plymouth, Minnesota-based Mosaic sold 2.5 million tonnes of diammonium phosphate in the fourth quarter at an average price of $348 per tonne, up from $317 per tonne a year earlier.The U.S. fertilizer company's average potash selling...Read More

(Adds background)KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia increased its crude oil exports slightly in December to 7.045 million barrels per day (bpd), official data showed on Monday.OPEC's biggest producer, which has cut output since last year under an agreement between OPEC and other producers to ease a supply glut, pumped 9.980 million bpd of oil in December, according to the data...Read More

(Kitco News)- The gold market is off its recent highs, starting the week on a soft note as the U.S. dollar bounces off a three-year low; however, analysts aren't ready to call an end to the yellow metal's long-term uptrend.While U.S. equity markets are closed Monday for Presidents' Day, the gold market is open, with electronic markets trading until noon, ET. April gold futures last traded at $1,34...Read More

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 19 (Reuters) - The Argentine economy grew "close to 2.8 percent" last year, Guido Sandleris, head of the advisory body to the Treasury Ministry, told a gathering of Japanese business leaders on Monday. The data, according to Sandleris, shows a clear recovery of the third-largest economy in Latin America after a contraction of gross domestic product of 2.2 percent in 201...Read More

LONDON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Latvia's benchmark bond fell on Monday, after one of the country's biggest banks was accused of breaching Western sanctions on North Korea and its central bank governor was detained by the country's anti-corruption agency.The moves saw the main Oct 2026 euro-dominated bond drop 0.67 cents to 96, its lowest since August. The yield, which moves inverse to the bond's price,...Read More

BRUSSELS, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers should decide on Monday to disburse the fourth tranche of aid to Greece, France's Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said."We should decide today the payment of the fourth tranche of aid to Greece, given the reforms that have been the Greek government accomplished for several months," Le Maire told reporters ahead of a meeting of euro...Read More