CAPE TOWN, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Mining is a long-term game, but in southern Africa dramatic political changes have transformed the investment mood for the better in the space of a year.Angola's Jose Eduardo dos Santos and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe stepped down in 2017 after a combined 75 years in office, while the election of Cyril Ramaphosa as head of South Africa's ruling ANC heralds the looming end...Read More

CAPE TOWN, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Mining is a long-term game, but in southern Africa dramatic political changes have transformed the investment mood for the better in the space of a year.Angola's Jose Eduardo dos Santos and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe stepped down in 2017 after a combined 75 years in office, while the election of Cyril Ramaphosa as head of South Africa's ruling ANC heralds the looming end...Read More

* Dow sinks another 500 points* 10-year bond yields creep up to near four-year highs* Weekly jobless claims fall to lowest level in nearly 45 years* Volatility measure VIX eases but remains elevated at 29.82* Dow -2.01 pct, S&P -1.65 pct, Nasdaq -1.83 pct (Updates to early afternoon)By Tanya AgrawalFeb 8 (Reuters) - The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank another 500 points on Thursday as a rene...Read More

(Bloomberg) - Endeavour Mining Corp. one of the fastest-growing gold producers in Africa, says bigger isn't always better."One of the reasons the majors have failed over the years is they've built such large corporate teams that the decision-making processes within those organizations is so slow," Chief Executive Officer Sebastien De Montessus said in an interview in Cape Town. "Being able to rem...Read More

WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley said on Thursday that as long as the U.S. economy continues to grow above trend this year, he would be in favor of another interest rate rise at the U.S. central bank's upcoming meeting in March."As long as I am comfortable the economy continues to grow at an above-trend pace at a time that I think monetary policy...Read More

(Bloomberg) - Endeavour Mining Corp. one of the fastest-growing gold producers in Africa, says bigger isn't always better."One of the reasons the majors have failed over the years is they've built such large corporate teams that the decision-making processes within those organizations is so slow," Chief Executive Officer Sebastien De Montessus said in an interview in Cape Town. "Being able to rem...Read More

CAIRO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Average yields on Egypt's six-month and one-year treasury bills fell on Thursday, data from the central bank showed, extending a decline that has taken yields to their lowest levels since the country floated its currency in late 2016.The yield on the 182-day bill fell to 17.358 percent from 17.611 percent at the last similar auction, and the yield on the 357-day bill fell...Read More

(Bloomberg) - Zimbabwe will consider applications from companies mining platinum or diamonds to be exempted from a requirement that they be at least 51 percent owned by black citizens of the country.The government wants companies to show they have a plan to achieve compliance before it will consider granting waivers, Mines Minister Winston Chitando said in an interview in Cape Town Wednesday."Com...Read More

BOGOTA, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The largest union at Colombia's top coal mine Cerrejon has reached an 11th-hour salary and benefits deal with the company, avoiding a strike, the union said on Thursday.Cerrejon accounts for 37 percent of Colombia's coal output, the world's fifth-largest exporter of the mineral, and a strike likely would have affected exports.The two sides had returned to talks after a la...Read More

BOGOTA, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The largest union at Colombia's top coal mine Cerrejon has reached an 11th-hour salary and benefits deal with the company, avoiding a strike, the union said on Thursday.Cerrejon accounts for 37 percent of Colombia's coal output, the world's fifth-largest exporter of the mineral, and a strike likely would have affected exports.The two sides had returned to talks after a la...Read More

(Corrects weight of other diamond to 118, not 163, carats in second paragraph and specifies throughout this is private sale, not auction.)LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - A flawless diamond, the size of a large strawberry, is expected to fetch a world record price when it comes to market at Sotheby's in London this month.Weighing just over 102 carats, the round, brilliant white stone is smaller than a 1...Read More

Feb 8 (Reuters) - Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk named Roman Deniskin as its chief executive on Thursday, following the resignation last year of its long-time CEO and co-founder.The appointment comes less than a month after Kazakh businessman Kenges Rakishev, who owns a 22 percent stake in Petropavlovsk, told Reuters that he wanted to bring back co-founder Pavel Maslovskiy as CEO.Maslovskiy resi...Read More

Feb 8 (Reuters) - Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk named Roman Deniskin as its chief executive on Thursday, following the resignation last year of its long-time CEO and co-founder.The appointment comes less than a month after Kazakh businessman Kenges Rakishev, who owns a 22 percent stake in Petropavlovsk, told Reuters that he wanted to bring back co-founder Pavel Maslovskiy as CEO.Maslovskiy resi...Read More

NEW YORK, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Two more managing directors left Goldman Sachs Group Inc last week, a company spokeswoman said, adding to a string of departures by key commodities traders after the Wall Street firm reported a sharp drop in 2017 trading revenue.Reuters reported last month that several traders, including Don Casturo, operating chief of global commodities, left Goldman Sachs as the firm...Read More

* Aluminium touches lowest in six weeks* GRAPHIC-2018 asset returns: * LME/ShFE arb: (Updates with closing prices)By Eric OnstadLONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Copper extended its downtrend on Thursday, touching its lowest in nearly eight weeks, after another big rise of inventories highlighted that the market currently has healthy supplies.On-warrant copper inventories in warehouses certified by the Lo...Read More

Gold's short-term prospects have diminished, but all is not lost.Even as the dollar strengthens, gold's 2-year recovery remains intact.CRB raw industrials index holds the key to gold's longer-term future.After an impressive upside run over the last several weeks, the price of gold is showing weakness once again. This has caused participants to wonder how much lower the gold price must...Read More

* Higher U.S. Treasury yields underpin dollar* Dollar rebound likely unsustainable this year - poll* Dollar likely in bear market correction-analysts* Graphic: World FX rates in 2018 (Recasts, updates prices, adds comment, FX table, changes byline, dateline; previous LONDON)By Gertrude Chavez-DreyfussNEW YORK, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The dollar hit two-week highs against a basket of currencies in choppy...Read More

U.S. stocks have shed early gains, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) down nearly 400 points at midday. Rising Treasury yields are once again in focus, with Caterpillar (CAT) and Intel (INTC) stocks weighing the most on the Dow, and Apple (AAPL) the only blue chip in the black. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) are also sharply lower, in yet another volatile day of trad...Read More

Exchange operator Cboe Global Markets Inc (NASDAQ:CBOE) was one of the biggest losers in the recent market pullback, with J.P. Morgan Securities yesterday suggesting the historic drop in leveraged volatility ETNs will hurt trading volumes going forward. The brokerage firm cited a similar development in 2011 when volatility spiked and VIX trading volumes declined substantially afterward. As such, t...Read More

The price of copper regained its footing and iron ore prices continued the climb on Thursday after customs data showed imports of raw materials by China stayed robust in January after a strong 2017.In brisk trading New York Comex copper for delivery in March were flat compared to Wednesday settlement price trading at $3.0855 a pound ($6,802 per tonne). Copper is still down sharply for the week aft...Read More