(Adds further comments from Orban, background)(.)BUDAPEST, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Hungary will soon sign a 15-year deal to import almost half the natural gas it needs each year from Romania, considerably reducing its reliance on Russia, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday.Orban told a news conference that three Hungarian companies had won a tender in Romania for the gas. He did not name the com...Read More
(Adds details throughout on stocks and sectors; updates prices)TORONTO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell to a five-month low on Friday, led lower by financial and materials shares as commodity prices fell and domestic data showed the economy lost the most jobs in nine years.* The 88,000-job decrease fell well short of economists' forecasts for a gain of 10,000 and was the biggest...Read More
Feb 9 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks turned higher in choppy trading on Friday after the Nasdaq Composite Index hit an over two-month low, as investors continued to grapple with elevated volatility.At 11:12 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 54.47 points, or 0.23 percent, at 23,914.93, the S&P 500 was up 10.88 points, or 0.42 percent, at 2,591.88 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 30.94 po...Read More
Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE) stock is struggling today, down 16.8% to trade at $102.39 -- fresh off an annual low of $102.06 and on track for its worst day since July 2013. The freefall comes after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue below analyst forecasts. Expedia also gave a disappointing 2018 forecast -- citing marketing costs that would outpace revenue growth -- and several...Read More
(Adds details from report, background, market reaction)WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - U.S. wholesale inventories rose more than initially estimated in December, helped by a sturdy rise in auto stocks.The Commerce Department said on Friday that wholesale inventories rose 0.4 percent after a revised 0.6 percent rise in November. The department reported last month that wholesale inventories rose 0.2...Read More
Casino stocks Wynn Resorts, Ltd (NASDAQ:WYNN) and Penn National Gaming, Inc (NASDAQ:PENN) were targeted by analysts this morning, with both securities trading lower, at last check.Below, we will take a look at today's analyst notes, and how WYNN and PENN stocks have been faring on the charts of late.Analyst: Take Profits on WYNNWynn Resorts stock gapped lower in late January, backing down from thr...Read More
(Updates rand, bonds, stocks levels)JOHANNESBURG, Feb 9 (Reuters) - South Africa's rand firmed on Friday, recouping losses from the previous session as investors continued to bet on the ruling African National Congress (ANC) unseating scandal-plagued President Jacob Zuma in the next few days.At 1532 GMT, the rand was 0.74 percent firmer at 12.0700 per dollar, having slipped to a three-week trough...Read More
LAGOS, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Britain's export finance agency will add the naira to its list of "pre-approved currencies", allowing it to provide financing for transactions with Nigerian businesses denominated in the local currency.The naira will become one of three West African currencies that UK Export Finance has pre-approved for its programme of funding transactions that promote trade wit...Read More
By Toby Sterling and Bart H. MeijerAMSTERDAM, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank (ECB) is investigating the way the board of Dutch bank ABN Amro operates after an internal row led to the chairwoman leaving her post, the Dutch finance minister said on Friday.ABN Amro said on Tuesday an internal discussion about the "leadership style" of Chairwoman Olga Zoutendijk prompted her to...Read More
ABIDJAN, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Endeavour Mining has opened negotiations with local people in Ivory Coast in an effort to head off protests at two gold mines where the company aims to boost production by nearly 4 percent this year, its country manager said on Friday.The Canadian company's Agbaou and Ity mines yielded a combined 236,000 ounces of gold last year, and plan to produce 245,000 in 2018.But o...Read More
Initial reports of an Amazon delivery service weighed on FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) and United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) stocks back in October, though Goldman Sachs analysts called the concerns overblown. Today, however, FDX and UPS stocks are once again in the red, amid reports that Amazon.com (AMZN) is planning to roll out "Shipping with Amazon" -- a service that delivers packages from...Read More
BUDAPEST, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The European Union should step up efforts to integrate the Balkans, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday, adding that Budapest would aim to accelerate the accession of its southern neighbour, Serbia."We must integrate the Balkans into the EU, the EU itself has already accepted that," Orban told a Hungarian-Serbian business forum. "It has a...Read More
Feb 9 (Reuters) - Commerce Department report of wholesale inventories and sales, seasonally adjusted. (Percent Changes)Dec Nov Dec'17/16 Inventories Total 0.4 0.6 3.4Durable Goods 0.4 0.4 4.7 Automotive1.7 0.9 2.8 Prof'l equip0.1-1.4 0.3Computer equip. 0.6-0.5 2.7Machinery-0.2 0.9 2.8 Nondurable Goods0.4 0.9 1.4Petroleum-3.4 1.4-7.2 (Percent Changes)Dec Nov Dec'17/16 Sales Total 1.2 1.9 9.1Durable...Read More
* Nvidia jumps after upbeat results, forecast* Expedia slips on disappointing 2018 guidance* Yields on 10-yr U.S. notes end week little changed* Indexes up: Dow 1.45 pct, S&P 1.4 pct, Nasdaq 1.54 pct (Updates to open)By Sruthi ShankarFeb 9 (Reuters) - Wall Street's three main indexes rose more than 1 percent on Friday, bouncing back from a steep selloff this week that pushed the Dow Jones Indu...Read More
By Bruno FederowskiSAO PAULO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Latin American markets on Friday were mostly unfazed by this week's global stock rout, supported by expectations of strong global growth.Stocks and currencies in the region still headed for weekly losses, though smaller than their developed-market peers.Most saw little trade on Friday ahead of Brazil's Carnival holidays, which will keep the region's...Read More
Feb 9 (Reuters) - For Commerce Department report of wholesale inventories and sales, seasonally adjusted, see: Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This articl...Read More
(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.)By Jamie McGeeverLONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Market seismographs are still twitching at levels almost twice the historical average and Wall Street's gauge of implied volatility needs to return below 20 percent for stocks to stabilise.On the surface, Wall St's 8 percent drawdown in the last week is striking but hardly ear...Read More
(Adds detail, SRB comment)By Francesco CanepaFRANKFURT, Feb 9 (Reuters) - European authorities used a "flawed" negative valuation for the sale of Spain's failing Banco Popular last year which undermined the process, a law firm seeking redress for investors who lost money on the bank's bonds said on Friday. Popular's sale to Banco Santander in June for a nominal one euro included the wri...Read More
MOSCOW, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Russia and South Africa are discussing a road map for the usage of platinum group metals (PGMs), Russian Natural Resources Minister Sergei Donskoi said in a statement on Friday.Donskoi discussed the need for more active cooperation in the usage of PGMs with his South African counterpart in Capetown on Friday, the statement said.(Reporting by Polina Devitt; Editing by Poli...Read More
Since thebeginning of last year, precious metal stocks have been badly lagging the gold price. At the beginning of 2017, gold was trading well below $1175, while theGDX was at roughly the same level it is trading today with bullion firmly above$1300. During healthy precious metal bull markets, the miners typicallyoutperform the gold price by 2x to 3x. However, untilgold closes above $1375 on a mon...Read More