NEW YORK, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 was flat on Wednesday while the Nasdaq lost ground in choppy trading in the wake of comments by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross which hinted at action against China in a trade war. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 41.38 points, or 0.16 percent, to 26,252.19, the S&P 500 lost 1.55 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,837.58 and the Nasdaq Composite...Read More

Mark BendeichDAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - The United States is not starting a trade war but trying to level the playing field of global commerce and fend off Chinese protectionism, including a “direct threat” in high-tech goods, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Wednesday.Ross was speaking a day after Washington imposed steep import tariffs on washing machines and solar pan...Read More

After API reported a surprise crude build overnight, all eyes are on the DOE data this morning which showed a smaller than expected crude draw (-1.07mm vs 2.32mm exp) but still a draw (for the 10th week in a row) compared to API's build.Read full newsRead More

Gold may be considered to be a bet against the U.S. dollar. The depreciation of the greenback supported the yellow metal in 2017. The price of gold managed to rise last year in rather unpleasant macroeconomic environment mainly thanks to the weakness of the U.S. dollar. Now, the key question is whether the bearish trend in the greenback will continue or we will see a trend reversal (or actually a...Read More

* U.S. officials set aggressive tone on America First* Deliver riposte to concerns about protectionism* Say more America First steps to come* Ross sees "inappropriate behaviour" by trade partners (Adds White House comment in paragraphs 7-8)By Paritosh Bansal, Noah Barkinand Yara BayoumyDAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 24 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin welcomed a weaker dollar...Read More

USD's relentless fall continues. Wall Street advances to fresh all-time highs. US 10-year T-bond yield is up more than 1%. The XAU/USD pair received an additional boost from the unstoppable USD sell-off in the NA session and advanced to its best level since early September at $1355. As of writing, the pair was trading at $1354, up nearly $13, or 0.95%, on the day. Nothing seems to be he...Read More

Eureka Resources Inc. (TSXV: EUK) ('Eureka' or the 'Company') announced today that is has closed the second and final tranche of its non-brokered private placement of common shares previously announced in press releases dated November 27, 2017, December 29, 2017 and January 18, 2018 (the 'Offering').Read full newsRead More

By Carolina MandlSAO PAULO, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Shares of Brazilian card processing firm PagSeguro Digital Ltd soared 34 percent in their debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, pushing its market capitalization to $8.8 billion, nearly 40 percent of main rival Cielo SA .PagSeguro's initial public offering on Tuesday was more than 10 times oversubscribed, according to a person with knowle...Read More

After November's modest profit warning, investors in staffing conglomerate Empresaria Group plc (LON:EMR) might have been apprehensive ahead of today's trading update.In the end, the statement was full of reassuring stuff, like: "record profit, in line with market expectations" and "an improved performance from our businesses in the USA in the second half", not to mention "the business in the Midd...Read More

* Mnuchin supports weak dollar* U.S. 5-year note auction shows mixed results (Adds comment, results of U.S. 5-year note auction, updates prices, table)By Gertrude Chavez-DreyfussNEW YORK, Jan 24 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury debt prices slumped on Wednesday, after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin backed a weaker dollar to help boost America's global trade, breaking from the traditional strong currenc...Read More

The U.S. stock market has retreated from the record highs it set earlier, as tech stocks slide. Among individual equities on the move are electronics manufacturing specialist Cemtrex Inc (NASDAQ:CETX), fabric dyeing firm Sharing Economy International Inc (NASDAQ:SEII), and semiconductor stock Sigma Designs Inc (NASDAQ:SIGM). Here's a quick look at how shares of CETX, SEII, and SIGM are trading tod...Read More

Airline stocks are trading lower today, after United Continental's (UAL) earnings call sparked fears of pricing wars in the industry. Sector peers Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) and American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL) both report earnings before the open tomorrow, so this group will remain in focus going forward. We'll take a closer look at LUV and AAL to see what traders can expect. Leisur...Read More

We're gonna need a bigger chart...Read full newsRead More

(Adds background, details.)KIEV, Jan 24 (Reuters) - International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Wednesday they had a constructive meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.Delays implementing reforms have held up the disbursement of funding under a $17.5 billion IMF programme and raised concern about Ukraine's willingnes...Read More

KINSHASA, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo's new proposed mining code, which the industry has warned will stifle investment in the copper and cobalt-rich nation, sailed through the Senate without opposition late on Wednesday.A version passed by the National Assembly - Congo's lower house of parliament - last month would increase taxes and royalties, including potentially more than d...Read More

BUENOS AIRES, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Argentina sold $800 million in Treasury notes to refinance maturing debt, the Finance Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.The government sold $400 million in 196-day Treasury notes and $400 million in 364-day Treasury notes, for which it received $3.174 billion and $1.741 billion in orders, respectively.(Reporting by Caroline Stauffer Editing by Chizu Nomiyam...Read More

LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The field of prospective bidders for ScotiaMocatta, the metals trading arm of Canada's Bank of Nova Scotia, has narrowed to two, three banking and industry sources said on Wednesday.The two - Goldman Sachs Group and Citi - are undertaking due diligence checks, the sources said.The sources said Japanese trading house Sumitomo and Australian bank ANZ (Australia and New Zea...Read More

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) has found itself all over the news this week. Yesterday, an analyst at J.P. Morgan Securities predicted build for the iPhone X might be down as much as 50% this quarter. Today, the tech titan noted that medical records could be featured on the Apple Watch, and new battery features were being implemented after its much-publicized slowdown controversy.Given the flurry of new...Read More

WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar is very stable and President Donald Trump believes in a free-floating currency, the White House said on Wednesday after a senior U.S. official welcomed a weaker dollar. "We believe in a free-floating currency. The president has always believed in that," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters at a daily briefing. "We have ....Read More

Paritosh Bansal, Noah Barkin, Yara BayoumyDAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - A senior U.S. official welcomed a weaker dollar on Wednesday, sending the greenback reeling and underlining concerns that U.S. President Donald Trump is stepping up his attack on China and other big trading partners as part of his America First agenda.U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made the remark, seen by markets as...Read More