MOSCOW, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Russian government bonds, known as OFZs, rallied on Friday following a U.S. Treasury report cited by Bloomberg that warned about the implications of sanctions on holding Russian debt.Investors in OFZ bonds, popular among foreign market players thanks to their lucrative yields, have been on alert about new possible sanctions recently, buying into Russian debt pre-emptively...Read More

ACCRA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The Bank of Ghana said the yield on its weekly 91-day bill eased to 13.32 percent at an auction on Friday from 13.35 percent at the last such sale, on Jan 26.The bank said it had accepted all 157.8 million cedis ($35.16 million) worth of bids tendered for the bills, which will be issued on Monday.Ghana's treasury bill yields have fallen to around 13 percent in the past six...Read More

TBILISI, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Consumer prices in Georgia rose 0.6 percent in January in month-on-month terms after rising 0.8 percent in December, the State Statistics Service said on Friday.Annual inflation in January stood at 4.3 percent, down from 6.7 percent in the preceding month, data from the agency showed. CONSUMER PRICE INDEXJan 18Dec 17 Jan 17Month/month pct change+0.6+0.8+2.9Year/year pct...Read More

(Updates with final IPO price)MADRID, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Spanish property developer Metrovacesa on Friday set the final price for its stock market listing at 16.5 euros per share, the bottom end of its indicative range, valuing the company at 2.5 billion euros ($3.11 billion), down from a previous estimate of up to 2.95 billion euros. The pricing at the bottom end of the range and a one day delay...Read More

(Kitco News) - Forthe first time this year, there is a sharp divergence between Wall Street andMain Street in the weekly Kitco News gold survey. Wall Street Bullish Bearish Neutral VSMain Street Bullish Bearish Neutral Themajority of traders and analysts who make up the Wall Street poll look for theyellow metal to remain on the defensive next week, while Kitco readers who tak...Read More

(Kitco News) - For the first time this year, there is a sharp divergence between Wall Street and Main Street in the weekly Kitco News gold survey. Wall Street Bullish Bearish Neutral VS Main Street Bullish Bearish Neutral The majority of traders and analysts who make up the Wall Street poll look for the yellow metal to remain on the defensive next week, while Kitc...Read More

WASHINGTON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will join the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, on Monday after stepping down from the U.S. central bank."I'm delighted to be joining," Yellen said, according to a statement announcing her position that was issued on Friday by the think tank. Yellen spearheaded the Fed's gradual move away from the near-zero in...Read More

It's been a rough ride for junk bonds since the European Central Bank (ECB) announced in late October its intent to taper bond purchases. That pain is evident in a daily chart of the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:HYG), which sliced cleanly through formerly solid support at its 200-day moving average in November.We see a potentially significant bearish tell from the action...Read More

Subscribers to our Weekly Options Countdown services just doubled their money on weekly 2/2 Alcoa Corp (NYSE:AA) 55.50-strike puts. We recommended these positions just this past Friday, meaning options traders realized a profit of 100% in just a matter of days. Let's look back at what attracted us to AA in the first place, and how the short trade unfolded.In our recommendation on Friday, we noted...Read More

(Update prices)JOHANNESBURG, Feb 2 (Reuters) - South Africa's main stock index ended lower on Friday, wrapping up its worst week in two years as an extended bull run loses steam, while the rand dropped two percent after strong U.S. jobs data lifted the dollar. The blue-chip JSE Top-40 index fell 1 percent to 51,908 points, bringing losses this week to 4.8 percent - the biggest weekly decline sinc...Read More

* U.S. 10-year yield hits 4-year peak, 2-year highest since 2008* Year-over-year U.S. wage growth strongest since 2009* U.S. 2-year, 10-year part of yield curve steepest since November (Updates market action, adds quote)By Richard LeongNEW YORK, Feb 2 (Reuters) - A strong payrolls report on Friday raised concerns the Federal Reserve might hasten to increase interest rates to stem inflation, compou...Read More

Deckers Outdoor Corp (NYSE:DECK) is up 5.7% to trade at $92.26 this morning, after the UGG maker delivered fiscal third-quarter earnings and sales that beat expectations. The company cited tax reform as a contributor to the earnings beat. As a result, no fewer than seven brokerage firms chimed in with price-target hikes, including Canaccord Genuity's hike to $110 -- a 19% premium to the stock's c...Read More

Sprint Corp (NYSE:S) is set to end the week on a high note, with the stock up 4.4% to trade at $5.32 on the heels of a well-received earnings report. The wireless carrier reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $7.16 billion, or $1.79 per share, on net operating revenue of $8.24 billion. On an adjusted basis, Sprint earned 3 cents per share. By contrast, analysts were bracing for a quarterly los...Read More

* U.S. dollar rises after jobs data* Euro falls against greenback* Yen inversely tracks with U.S. bond yields (New throughout; updates prices, market activity, changes byline, dateline, previously LONDON)By Stephanie KellyNEW YORK, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar rose on Friday against a number of currencies including the Japanese yen and the euro after strong national jobs data, but investors w...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices are solidly lower and have hit newdaily lows in late-morning trading Friday. An upbeat U.S. jobs report hasrallied the U.S. dollar index, which has in turn pressured the entire rawcommodity sector, including the precious metals markets. However, the U.S.stock market is also in a significant sell-off late this week, despite theupbeat U.S.economic news (The sto...Read More

* Japanese utilities snap up cargoes for Feb, March - traders* Temperatures set to dip lower in Japan, South Korea* Supply from Cove Point could weigh on prices By Jessica Jaganathan and Oleg Vukmanovic SINGAPORE, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Asian spot LNG prices eased further this week on expectations of reduced buying but plunging temperatures in Japan, South Korea and China prevented a steep price decli...Read More

Feb 2 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index , ended the week over 10 percent lower on Friday, as rates fell across all vessel segments, pushing the index to near 6-month lows.* The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, fell 19 points, or 1.71 percent, at 1,095 points, touching its lowest level since Aug. 10 last yea...Read More

* TSX down 127.48 points, or 0.8 percent, to 15,733.44* All of the TSX's 10 main groups were trading lower TORONTO, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Friday as weakness in commodity prices fueled a decline in shares of the heavyweight natural resource sectors.U.S. crude prices were down 1.6 percent to $64.77 a barrel, while Brent crude lost 1.9 percent to $68.36. The energy grou...Read More

The tech sector is in focus today, after industry heavyweights Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reported earnings last night. Here's a quick earnings roundup for GOOGL, AMZN, and AAPL, and how the FAANG stocks are reacting.Susquehanna Targets 25% Upside for GOOGL StockAlphabet reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter profit of $9.70 per s...Read More

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 2 (Reuters) - South Africa's central bank has fined China Construction Bank (CCB) 75 million rand ($6 million) for non-compliance with the country's financial intelligence act, it said on Friday."It should be noted that the administrative sanctions were not imposed because CCB was found to have facilitated transactions involving money laundering or the financing of terrorism...Read More