(Recasts lead paragraph, adds quote)By Richard LeongNEW YORK, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Traders increased their purchases of U.S. three-month Treasury bills at a record-size auction on Tuesday in a sign they expect Congress to reach a deal to raise the debt ceiling by late March.A measure of overall demand at the latest three-month bill sale rebounded to its strongest in a month from its below-average le...Read More

FRANKFURT, Jan 2 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank may end its stimulus programme this year if the euro zone economy continues to grow strongly, ECB rate-setter Ewald Nowotny told a German newspaper.The ECB has said it will buy bonds at least until September and it is widely expected to wind down the 2.55 trillion-euroscheme, the centrepiece of its efforts to revive inflation in the euro zone,...Read More

BEIRUT, LEBANON (8:05 P.M.) - The Syrian Arab Republic has condemned the stances of the U.S. and Israeli regimes in regards to the Iranian protests, an offRead full newsRead More

Companies that make packaging from plants instead of fossil fuels are starting to challenge the oil industry's ambition to increase the supply of raw materials for plastics.Read full newsRead More

Gold is starting the new year on the front foot. Bullion advanced for an eighth session to head for the longest stretch of gains since mid-2011, building on an annual surge.Read full newsRead More

(Bloomberg) - Gold is starting the new year on the front foot. Bullion advanced for an eighth session to head for the longest stretch of gains since mid-2011, building on an annual surge.Bullion for immediate delivery advanced 0.9 percent to $1,315.08 an ounce at 2:15 p.m. in New York, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. Last year, the commodity climbed 14 percent, the best performance in sev...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold prices ended the U.S. day session moderately up and hit a more-than-three-monthhigh Tuesday. Silver made slight gains and hit a five-week high. A slumpingU.S. dollar index that hit a better-than-three-month low today is a bullishelement for the precious metals. Gold and silver markets also saw safe-havendemand come from heightened geopolitical risks. February Comex gold was las...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold prices ended the U.S. day session moderately up and hit a more-than-three-month high Tuesday. Silver made slight gains and hit a five-week high. A slumping U.S. dollar index that hit a better-than-three-month low today is a bullish element for the precious metals. Gold and silver markets also saw safe-haven demand come from heightened geopolitical risks. February Comex gold was...Read More

Dmitry Zhdannikov, Devika Krishna KumarLONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices eased on Tuesday after hitting mid-2015 highs in early trading, as major pipelines in Libya and the UK restarted and U.S production soared to the highest in more than four decades.It was the first time since January 2014 that the two crude oil benchmarks opened the year above $60 per barrel, buoyed by large anti-government rallie...Read More

Huw JonesLONDON (Reuters) - Bankers will work through the night to iron out last minute hitches before Wednesday’s launch of a major reform of European Union financial markets that aims to apply lessons from the financial crisis nearly a decade ago.The new rules are already a year late due to their complexity and regulators have had to issue eleventh-hour guidance to banks and financial firm...Read More

Jan 3 (Reuters) - Stock MarketsNet ChngStock MarketsNet ChngS&P/ASX 200** 6,061.30 -3.80 NZX 50**8,398.08 -10.45DJIA24,754.6736.18 NIKKEI**22,764.94-19.04Nasdaq6,984.97180.561FTSE**7,648.1-39.67S&P 500 2,689.25 15.64 Hang Seng** 30,515.31596.16SPI 200 Fut 6,028.00.10STI** 3,430.327.38SSEC**3,349.05241.8799 KOSPI** 2,479.65 12.16--------------------------------------------------------------...Read More

Dhara RanasingheLONDON (Reuters) - Borrowing costs across the euro area shot higher on Tuesday as a cut in monthly ECB asset purchases became a reality, with hawkish comments from a top official and strong data hurting sentiment towards bonds on the first trading day of the year.Bonds from the bloc’s periphery, the biggest beneficiaries of European Central Bank stimulus, bore the brunt of th...Read More

Editor's Note: View Kitco News' full 2018 outlook coverage (Kitco News) - Known as a fan favorite, the Expert Series brings together well-known investors and Kitco regulars to find out where they will be putting their money in 2018.This year, in a new twist to the feature, Kitco News has asked some of the most influential mining sector newsletter writers how they would invest $100K in the mining s...Read More

Editor's Note: View Kitco News' full 2018 outlook coverage (Kitco News) - Known as a fan favorite, the Expert Series brings together well-known investors and Kitco regulars to find out where they will be putting their money in 2018.This year, in a new twist to the feature, Kitco News has asked some of the most influential mining sector newsletter writers how they would invest $100K in the mining s...Read More

* Oil trades near strongest levels since mid-2015* Media, retail stocks rise after positive broker recommendations* Casino stocks hit by downbeat December gambling revenue* Indexes up: Dow 0.2 pct, S&P 0.62 pct, Nasdaq 1.2 pct (Updates to early afternoon)By Sruthi ShankarJan 2 (Reuters) - Wall Street's major indexes were higher on the first trading session of 2018 on Tuesday, driven by gains i...Read More

   •  Broad-based USD weakness underpins.   •  Risk-off mood provides an additional boost.   •  Recovering US bond yields fail to  cap gains. Gold was seen building on its bullish momentum further beyond the $1300 handle and rose to fresh three-month highs during the mid-European session. The precious metal began 2018 on a firmer not...Read More

By Liz HamptonHOUSTON, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Shares of Weatherford International Plc fell more than 17 percent on Tuesday after the oilfield services companyabandoned a proposed joint venture with Schlumberger and instead sold its hydraulic fracturing business to Schlumberger, a bigger rival.The deal with Schlumberger, worth $430 million, gave Weatherford roughly $100 million less than originally anti...Read More

Forestry management company Active Energy Group PLC (LON:AEG) has successfully completed the initial testing of its five tonne per hour CoalSwitch biomass fuel plant in Utah. CEO Richard Spinks tells Proactive how this proves the technology is scalable to full commercial production and gives us the latest updates on projects in Newfoundland, Labrador and Alberta.  Meet Chaarat Gold Holdings L...Read More

2018 has just begun. What will a new year bring for the gold market?Macroeconomic outlook will remain unpleasantThe current economic expansion is surprisingly durable, as it has already lasted more than 100 months. It worries many investors who are afraid of the upcoming recessions. Surely, there are many reasons to worry, and the recession will eventually come. But we are not at this point yet. T...Read More

SAGE Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SAGE) had a rip-roaring end to 2017, tacking on 78% in December, and touching an all-time high of $173.36 on Dec. 8. It appears the momentum might spill over into 2018, with the drug stock sending up a signal to buy short-term options right now.While SAGE stock vaulted up the charts, its short-term options prices remained in the proverbial basement. The equity's Sch...Read More