BUENOS AIRES, June 8 (Reuters) - Argentina's statistics agency said on Thursday 12-month inflation through May was 24 percent, down from 27.5 percent in April. May inflation was 1.3 percent, half the 2.6 percent inflation rate in April and beating median expectations in a Reuters poll for a rise in consumer prices of 1.7 percent.(Reporting by Luc Cohen; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Disclaimer: The...Read More

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce elected Tom Wilson, chief executive and chairman of property and casualty insurer Allstate Corp (ALL.N), as chairman, the business lobby group said on Thursday.Wilson succeeds John Hopkins, who currently also serves as the chairman and CEO of NuScale Power LLC, a company that designs nuclear reactors.Wilson, 59, became CEO of Allstate in 2007 after holding several seni...Read More

The outside counsel for President Donald Trump on Thursday disputed key points of the testimony of former FBI director James Comey, and said in a statement that a Senate hearing established that the president was not being investigated for collusion or obstruction.The attorney, Marc Kasowitz, said Trump did not ask Comey for his loyalty and did not direct or suggest to Comey that he stop investiga...Read More

(Kitco News) - With gold trading near key psychological resistance at $1,300 an ounce, one analyst says the metal looks ready to breakout.But, instead of focusing on the yellow metal, Blake Morrow of Forex Analytics looked at what effects a breakout in gold would have on other assets closely related to the metal."[T]he market is like a set of dominoes' and as one asset class makes a move, sometime...Read More

(Kitco News)- Former FBI director James Comey had some harsh criticism ofthe Trump administration and the president himself, but his testimony didn'tadd much to the ongoing turmoil in Washington D.C., which has driven risksentiment on Wall Street. While gold prices are off their session lows, the yellowmetal has seen little safe-haven demand following Comey's more than two-hourtestimony before the...Read More

BRASILIA, June 8 (Reuters) - Brazil's top electoral court on Thursday decided not to admit as evidence the testimony of executives of engineering company Odebrecht SA in an illegal campaign funding case against President Michel Temer, suggesting it will throw out the case.The Supreme Electoral Tribunal voted 4-3 to exclude plea-bargain testimony by Odebrecht executives who told prosecutors they fu...Read More

(Adds Poloz comment from news conference)By Andrea HopkinsOTTAWA, June 8 (Reuters) - The recent liquidity strain at Home Capital Group highlighted the vulnerability associated with overreliance on less-stable funding sources, but the alternative lending sector is a business that works, the Bank of Canada said on Thursday.In its semi-annual Financial System Review, the central bank said the market...Read More

LIMA, June 8 (Reuters) - Peru's trade surplus widened to $66 million in April from $57 million in April 2016, according to data released by the central bank on Thursday. (Reporting by Marco Aquino, writing by Hugh Bronstein, editing by G Crosse) 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 t...Read More

Deals, Investments & M&AsThe New Cryptocurrency Gold Rush: Digital Tokens That Raise Millions In MinutesJoon Ian Wong - QuartzThe oracles of Silicon Valley say token offerings could reinvent the "freemium" business model of the internet, upending the huge centralized services-think of Facebook or Google-that have emerged. Instead of enticing users with free services, paid for by venture capital, a...Read More

NEW YORK, June 8 (Reuters) - U.S. interest rates futures were mostly weaker on Thursday, suggesting traders had fully priced in a possible quarter-point rate increase at the Federal Reserve's policy meeting next Tuesday and Wednesday.At 1:22 p.m. (1722 GMT), federal funds futures implied traders priced in a 100 percent probability the Fed policymakers would raise key short-term borrowing costs to...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold pricesended the U.S. day session solidly lower on some more profit taking andtechnical chart consolidation after hitting a seven-week high earlier thisweek. Three major marketplace occurrences Thursday failed to move the marketsin a significant manner. The gold and silver market bulls are still holding thenear-term technical advantage amid price uptrends in both metals. August...Read More

By Bruno FederowskiSAO PAULO, June 8 (Reuters) - Brazil's stocks and currency fell on Thursday in thin trading as investors remained cautious over an electoral trial that could oust President Michel Temer.The majority of judges on Brazil's top electoral court (TSE) argued to exclude testimony by executives from conglomerate Odebrecht SA, potentially strengthening Temer's assertions that his campai...Read More

(Adds analyst's comment, background on ruling, details of budget impasse)CHICAGO, June 8 (Reuters) - Illinois general obligation bond prices plummeted and yields soared in the U.S. municipal market on Thursday, a day after a federal judge ordered the cash-strapped state to find more money to pay Medicaid providers.Yields on bonds due in 2024 climbed to 5.15 percent in secondary market trading, ac...Read More

* Euro dips after ECB policy decision to keep rates unchanged* Sterling edges down as investors eye UK election result* Graphic: World FX rates in 2017 #* Graphic on UK election: (Updates prices, market activity and comments to U.S. afternoon trading)By Saqib Iqbal AhmedNEW YORK, June 8 (Reuters) - The greenback held gains against a basket of currencies on Thursday as investors took stock of forme...Read More

June 8 (Reuters) - AvidXchange, a software company that helps mid-sized companies automate their invoicing and bill payments, said on Thursday it raised $300 million from investors including Mastercard , Silicon valley investor Peter Thiel and Canada's second largest public pension fund.Pension fund Caisse de d?(C)p??t et placement du Qu?(C)bec said it invested $100 million in the Charlotte, North...Read More

Qatar said on Thursday fellow Arab states' move to isolate it in a row over alleged ties to terrorism is endangering stability in the oil-rich Gulf region but it was not ready to change its foreign policy to settle the dispute and would never compromise.Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani spoke as would-be mediators ranging from U.S. President Donald Trump to Kuwait's ruling...Read More

* Graphic: World FX rates in 2017 * Euro falls after ECB keeps rates on hold* Top European share index briefly touches 3-week low* Oil prices steady after touching 1-month lows* Sterling dips before British election outcome (Updates trading, adds comments; changes byline, dateline, previous LONDON)By Sam ForgioneNEW YORK, June 8 (Reuters) - U.S. shares rose modestly and European stocks were little...Read More

PRAGUE, June 8 (Reuters) - The founders and majority owners of Kofola CeskoSlovensko are to raise their stake in the Czech soft drinksmaker to 68 percent in a series of transactions that will result in a long-term private equity investor selling out.Kofola announced on Thursday that 50.8 percent shareholder KSM Investment, controlled by the Samaras family which revived the communist-era brand in t...Read More

* Comey says no doubt Russia interfered in the election* ECB leaves rates unchanged but closes door to further cuts* Nordstrom rises on going-private option* Indexes up: Dow 0.32 pct, S&P 0.16 pct, Nasdaq 0.23 pct (Adds details, changes comment, updates prices)By Tanya AgrawalJune 8 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were higher in early afternoon trading on Thursday after former FBI Director James Comey's t...Read More

Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,The "Bond Bears" just can't seem to catch a break. Beginning in mid-2013, there have been numerous calls the 30-year bond bull market was dead. The reasoning was simplistic enough - economic growth was set to return pushing inflation, and ultimately interest rates, higher. Unfortunately, as each year has come and gone, economic growth has fa...Read More