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BRUSSELS, June 7 (Reuters) - Global commodities Trafigura posted a record net profit of $5.5 billion in the first half of its 2023 financial year that ended March 31, double the amount it earned for the same period in 2022. The Geneva-based trader said its oil, natural gas and LNG teams delivered a strong performance. The result is already 80% of its record full year in 2022 of $7 billion and came in despite revenue falling 23% to $131 billion. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose to $8 billion, up from $4 billion in the first half of 2022. The company however does not expect its string of exceptional returns and growth to continue at the same speed. The COVID-19 pandemic followed by sweeping Western sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine created extreme market dislocations over the last few years that have boosted trading houses' profits. Soaring prices, particularly in natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) after Russia turned off the taps, proved a boon for major commodity trading houses. Rival trading house Vitol made $15 billion in net profit for the full year 2022. "We are seeing a return to more normal and calmer market conditions. Therefore, we expect the pace of our growth to slow compared to the previous 12 months," Trafigura CFO Christophe Salmon said in a statement. "We are also conscious that there are a growing number of headwinds, including inflationary pressures, higher interest rates and ongoing geopoliti...

Rising expectations of stimulus measures from China along with increasing bets of a pause in Fed rate hike bolstered market sentiments this week. The dollar which was holding steady above 104 levels slipped sharply as an unexpected surge in US jobless claims eased bets of further monetary policy tightening. Also, US services sectors barely grew in May, as business activity and new orders slowed, while a measure of prices paid by businesses for inputs plunged to a three-year low. On the other hand, Euro rose to two weeks high of 1.0785 boosted by expectations that European Central Bank may raise rates by 25 bps next week, to be followed by another 25 bps increase in July, taking rates to 3.75 percent. COMEX Gold ended the week with more than 5 percent gains as bets that the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its hiking cycle led to pulling back in the dollar and US treasury yields, in turn benefitting non-yielding bullion. According to data from the PBoC, China raised its gold holdings for seventh consecutive month in May by about 16 tons, pushing total stockpiles to about 2,092 tons, highlighting strong demand for the precious metal from the world’s central banks. Both Gold and Silver prices were under pressure earlier in the week owing to surprise rate hikes by the Reserve Bank of Australia and Bank of Canada. However, decline in the greenback prompted recovery in COMEX Silver from $23.32 per troy ounce to above $24.5 per troy ounce, while COMEX gold rebounded to $1980...

Top Stories FCI to Offload 3-5 Lac Tons of Wheat to Small Buyers; Market Predicted to Remain Rangebound Mumbai, 16 June (Commoditiescontrol):The Food Corporation of India (FCI), a state-owned enterprise, announced plans to offload 3-5 lac tons of wheat to small private buyers starting June 28 under the ... Spot Market Prices Template 3 Variety Market Latest Prices Cur./Unit Date Min Max Chilli - Indo5 Guntur 220 250 Rs / kg 16-06-23 Ground Nut Oil - Expeller Mumbai 1,660 1,660 Rs / 10Kg 16-06-23 Wheat - Lokwan Bhopal 2,400 2,500 Rs / 100Kg 16-06-23 Cotton Seed - V-797 Kadi 4,950 5,000 Rs / 20Kg 16-06-23 Toor /Pigeon Peas - Burmese Lemon Delhi 10,550 10,550 Rs / 100kg 16-06-23

June 5 (Reuters) - Gold and silver producer Polymetal International Washington last month included Polymetal's Russian business and Polyus "In light of recent developments, and in the interests of preserving shareholder value, the board and the special committee have decided to consider all possible options available for divestment of JSC Polymetal and its subsidiaries," Polymetal International said in a statement. JSC Polymetal is the holding company for the group's Russian assets, which accounted for about two thirds of group revenue in 2022. "Vitaly Nesis, Chief Executive Officer, and Maxim Nazimok, Chief Financial Officer, have resigned from all executive positions with, and terminated their employment at, JSC Polymetal and its subsidiaries," Polymetal said. Nesis and Nazimok will retain their positions with Polymetal International to continue to focus on its Kazakhstan assets as well as plans to re-domicile from Jersey to Kazakhstan and shift its primary listing from London to Astana. Polymetal said it was ring-fencing its Russian subsidiaries to ensure sanctions compliance. "All service agreements between (Polymetal International) and its non-Russian subsidiaries, and JSC Polymetal and its subsidiaries, have been terminated," the company said.

Lloyds Banking Group PLC (GB:LLOY) is among the top four banks in the UK, providing services to 30 million customers. The bank enjoyed a solid year in 2022 with record profits. Looking ahead, analysts maintain a positive outlook on the stock and project a potential upside of approximately 45% from its current level. On the flip side, investors and some analysts also hold a cautious view of UK banking stocks, even though they presented a decent set of numbers in Q1 2023. Cautious Outlook During its first-quarter Still a Dividend Gem In 2022, the bank paid a Recent Ratings Just four days ago, Prior to this, Is Lloyds Banking Group a Good Share to Buy? Based on analysts’ assessments on TipRanks, the stock is believed to possess further potential and could be considered a favorable investment option. In general, The average price prediction for a 12-month period is 65.57p, which implies a 45% growth from the current price. Conclusion Despite a slightly tougher operating environment, analysts expect the share prices of UK banks to remain relatively resilient. Lloyds have benefited a lot from the rising interest rates, but investors should be prepared for fluctuations due to prevailing economic uncertainty.

Silver is very light in color, can be burnished more easily, and has a higher reflectivity than other precious metals. Silver is a white metal which offers better electrical and thermal conductivity than the other three precious metals. Silver is easy to process and only causes chemical reactions with very few substances, such as sulfur and sulfur derivatives. Silver is used almost exclusively as an alloy with copper, since silver in its pure form is too soft. Silver does not change color when mixed with copper. (read more) Silver frequently occurs during the extraction of base metals. In its pure form the white precious metal is even rarer than gold. Around 70 per cent of silver production occurs during copper, lead and zinc extraction. In nature, silver ores are frequently permeated by lead ores. As a result only around 20,000 tonnes of silver are obtained each year. Silver has been known since about the 5th millennium B.C. and was already processed by the people living at that time. Back then, silver could still be found on the earth’s surface or at shallow depths, meaning that no complex extraction was required. Silver was also referred to by the Egyptians as “lunar metal”. Silver has been used for money since the 6th century B.C. The Greeks produced the first silver coins and used them as a means of payment. This is why silver has a particularly high political and economic significance among the precious metals. Until the 20th century silver was more important than go...