GBP/USD Weekly Outlook For Trending.

Hello dear viewers,

This if Weekly trending analysis for GBP/USD. GBP/USD's break of 1.2675 resistance indicate resumption complete rebound from 1.1948. Initial bias stays on the upside for 61.7% projection of 1.1947 to 1.2674 from 1.2301 at 1.2750 first. Break will target 100% projection at 1.3024. But we'll expect well-built resistance below 1.3444 resistance to limit upside and bring down trend carrying on. however, break of 1.2301 support is now needed to confirm  achievement of the corrective rise. Otherwise, further rise will remain gently in favor in upcoming.In the bigger picture, fall from 1.7196 is seen as part of the down trend from 2.1160. There is no sign of medium term bottoming until now. constantly trading below 61.8% projection of 2.1161 to 1.3503 from 1.7190 at 1.2457 will target 100% projection at 0.9532. Overall, break of 1.3444 resistance is needed to confirm medium term bottoming. Otherwise, outlook will stay bearish.In the longer term reflection, no change in the view that down trend from 2.1161 is still in progress. In progress momentum suggests that the down trend will go deeper than initially expected in nearly. Thanks for Viewing our Post.

Canadian Dollar Ticks Move Lower, US Jobless Claims Next

Hello Dear Viewers,

You know that, The Canadian dollar is showing a most slight movement on Thursday, after a unstable volatile movement on Wednesday . presently, the pair is trading at the 1.3420 level. In economic news, OPEC members reached a production cap deal. In the U.S, it's a busy day now, with two key events – unemployment claims and ISM built-up PMI. Employment indicators will be in the limelight on Friday, tinted by U.S Non-farm Payrolls and the Canadian Employment Change. Traders should be ready for some movement from USD/CAD on Friday 2/12/2016.

There was the common drama and fluctuations in oil prices forward of another OPEC meeting, but this time there was a shock ending. And OPEC announced that it had reached a production cut agreement. One of the main sticking points had been Iran's persistence to preserve output at pre-sanction levels. Saudi Arabia swallowed hard and accepted Iran's demand, pave stone the path for a production contract by OPEC since 2008. U.S crude has surged 6.6 percent in the Wednesday session and is trading above the $48 level. The agreement should trim down the worldwide glut of oil and steady oil prices, on the statement that OPEC members do not cheat on their production quotas. The surprise deal initially sent the Canadian dollar higher, but it could not join and ended the Wednesday session unaffected on Market.

U.S indicators overcome on Tuesday. In the Beginning GDP sparkled in the third quarter, as the economy expanded 3.1%, above the forecast of 3.1%. The 3.0% put on was an upwards revision of Advance GDP, which came in at 3.0%. Solid customer confidence numbers have been a serious factor in the U.S improvement, as an optimistic consumer is likely to go out and spend money. CB Consumer Confidence Move up to 107.1 points in November, surpassing the 100-level for the third time in four months. Last week, UoM buyer Sentiment jumped to 93.8 points, its highest level since May. Donald Trump's surprise election victory has not had an adverse effect on consumer confidence, and if these pinkish numbers translate into stronger consumer costs, the U.S dollar could continue to climb against its rivals. Thanks for Reading.

GLOBAL MARKETS-Oil rally helps lifts equities; Wall St at record

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NEW YORK U.S. stocks climbed on Monday to set a record peak and European equity markets also advanced, buoyed by strong gains in the energy sector as oil prices surged to a three-week high.

Both Brent and U.S. crude LCOc1 jumped more than 4 percent to hit their highest levels in about three weeks, as the dollar weakened. The gains were also helped by comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin that raised expectations major oil producing countries could reach a deal to limit output at a meeting next week.

Among U.S. equities, the S&P energy index .SPNY gained 2.1 percent as the top-performing sector, helping to push the benchmark S&P 500 index above its intraday record of 2,193,81 set on Aug. 15. The advance put the index on pace to set a closing high.

"It’s in that mindset now, we have broken up and out, we are testing the highs, so new highs beget new highs," said Ken Polcari, director of the NYSE floor division at O’Neil Securities in New York. "Now it’s all psychological."

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 65.85 points, or 0.35 percent, to 18,933.78, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 14.38 points, or 0.66 percent, to 2,196.28 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 39.73 points, or 0.75 percent, to 5,361.24.

The Nasdaq hit an intraday record for a second day, reaching as high as 5,364.76, but market participants cautioned that volume was likely to be light this week ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday.

The climb in oil lifted European markets, with the STOXX Europe oil & gas index .SXEP up 2.1 percent. Europe's index of leading 300 shares .FTEU3 closed up 0.3 percent. MSCI's all-country world index .MIWD00000PUS advanced 0.6 percent.

The dollar .DXY eased 0.06 percent to 101.15 against a basket of major currencies, pausing after a 10-day streak that saw it gaining nearly 5 percent. That rally was fueled by expectations of policies by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that would lead to interest rate increases.

In similar fashion, U.S. Treasury yields, which have soared in the wake of the U.S. election, declined from one-year highs as the recent selloff tempted some new buyers. Benchmark 10-year note yields US10YT=RR jumped as high as 2.36 percent on Friday and were last up 2/32 in price to yield 2.3298 percent.

Sterling GBP= climbed 1 percent against the dollar to $1.2461 as the market processed British Prime Minister Theresa May's latest hints on the possible shape of Britain's exit from the European Union.

Copper prices CMCU3, which have risen on Trump's promise to spend heavily on infrastructure, were up 2.4 percent CMCU3 at $5,553.50 a tonne on the prospect of better demand in top consumer China and on the dip in the greenback.

The pause in the U.S. dollar rally helped gold XAU= bounce from a 5-1/2 month low. Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $1,210.86 an ounce. Thanks.

Canada accelerates plan to phase out coal power, targets 2030

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TORONTO Canada announced on Monday it will accelerate its plan to virtually eliminate traditional coal-fired electricity by 2030, a stance contrasting sharply with that of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to revive the sector.

Canada's Liberal government ran on a platform to do more for the environment. Its coal-cutting plan would help it meet the emissions reduction targets of the Paris agreement, which Parliament ratified last month.

South of the border, the Republican Trump has vowed to ease the regulatory burden on all fossil fuel producers, including coal.

Globally, more than 2,400 coal power plants are under construction or being planned, experts say. Two-thirds are in China and India, according to a report by a dozen poverty and development organizations.

Canadian Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said Canada's coal regulation, which accelerates an existing phase-out timetable, will take into account the positions of provinces, some of which have resisted the federal government's plans to counter climate change.

Four provinces still burn coal for electricity - Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick - but the first already has a coal-cutting plan with a similar timeline.

Meeting the coal-cutting targets will be hard for those provinces as the transition may be costly, even with the flexibility the federal government granted, said Joe Aldina, director for U.S. coal for PIRA Energy Group.

But certain industries will likely benefit as provinces look for energy in new areas or further explore existing ones, he said.

"British Columbia, Quebec and Manitoba have really significant hydro resources," he said. "I'd expect a mix of natural gas and renewables to benefit."

Under Canada's plan, some plants will be allowed to stay open if equivalent emission reductions are achieved elsewhere, McKenna said.

"Eighty percent of Canada's electricity already comes from non-emitting sources," she said. "Our goal is to make Canada's electricity 90 percent non-emitting by 2030."

Ed Whittingham, executive director at the Alberta-based Pembina Institute, welcomed the government's move and called for the government to require 100-percent clean electricity supply by 2050.

Canada's existing plan to phase out coal power was announced in 2010, under the Conservative government. The move was welcomed by some in the industry, including TransAlta Corp (TA.TO), the country's largest operator. Thanks.

Merkel says she will seek 4th term as German chancellor

For your information, BERLIN Angela Merkel announced on Sunday she wants to run for a fourth term as German chancellor in next year's election, a sign of stability after Britain's vote to leave the European Union and the election of Donald Trump as the next U.S. president.

Despite a voter backlash over her open-door migrant policy, the 62-year old conservative said she would stand again in the September election, ending months of speculation over her decision.

"I thought about this for an endlessly long time. The decision (to run) for a fourth term is - after 11 years in office - anything but trivial," Merkel told a news conference after a meeting of senior members of her conservative Christian Democrat (CDU) party convened to prepare for the election.

Some 55 percent of Germans want Merkel, Germany's eighth chancellor since World War Two, to serve a fourth term, with 39 percent against, an Emnid poll showed on Sunday, highlighting that despite setbacks, she is still an electoral asset.

Merkel has steered Europe's biggest economy through the financial crisis and euro zone debt crisis and has won respect internationally, for example with her efforts to help solve the conflict in Ukraine. U.S. President Barack Obama last week described her as an "outstanding" ally.

With Trump's victory in the United States and the rise in support for right-wing parties in several European states, some commentators see Merkel as a bastion of Western liberal values.

"Angela Merkel is the answer to the populism of this time. She is, as it were, the anti-Trump," party ally Stanislaw Tillich, premier of the state of Saxony, told the RND newspaper group, adding she stood for reliability and predictability.

However, her decision last year to open Germany's borders to around 900,000 migrants, mostly from war zones in the Middle East, angered many voters at home and dented her ratings.

Her party has slumped in regional elections in the last year while support for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) has swelled.

In September, after a heavy defeat for the CDU in a Berlin state election, a humbled Merkel surprised the country by saying she wished she could turn the clock back on the migrant crisis, though she stopped short of saying her policy was a mistake.

BIG TASKS AHEAD

If re-elected, her responsibilities will range from helping lead talks with Britain on its withdrawal from the EU, soothing tense relations with Turkey, a crucial partner in the migrant crisis, and developing a relationship with Trump.

Domestically, her biggest challenge will probably be managing the integration of refugees in an increasingly divided society and keeping Europe's powerhouse economy on track.

An Emnid poll on Sunday put Merkel's conservative bloc down one point at 33 percent, nine points ahead of her nearest rivals, the Social Democrats (SPD), with whom she shares power.

In a system where coalition governments are the norm, many pollsters see another 'grand coalition' as the most likely option after the election, although the rise of the AfD makes coalition arithmetic more complicated.

The SPD has not decided whether its chairman Sigmar Gabriel, Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister, will run against Merkel.

One of the SPD's deputy leaders, Ralf Stegner, said it would be a mistake to underestimate Merkel but that the "myth of invincibility" was over.

Merkel, who grew up in Communist East Germany, is a physicist who only became involved in politics after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. She is seen as a talented negotiator but has also shown a ruthless streak.

A Protestant woman in a mainly Catholic and male-dominated party, at least when she became its leader in 2000, Merkel never built up a regional power base but over the years she has sidelined her main male rivals and has no obvious successor.

She still requires the official backing of her Christian Social Union (CSU) allies in Bavaria, who have fiercely criticized her open-door migrant policy. CSU head Horst Seehofer welcomed her decision on Sunday.

"We now want the trust of the population for another four years and therefore it is good that we have clarity," he said.

Germany has no limit on the number of terms a chancellor can serve. By standing again, Merkel, who said she wanted to serve the full fourth term, could end up matching the 16 years in office of her former mentor, Helmut Kohl. It was Merkel herself who broke with Kohl and told her party in 1999, in the midst of a funding scandal, that it should move on without him. Thanks.

High turnout as France's conservatives choose presidential candidate

Hello Dear Viewers,

You know about, PARIS French conservative voters turned out en masse on Sunday to choose their candidate for next year's presidential election in a tight primary race whose winner is seen as likely to make the Elysee Palace in 2017.

Sunday's primary vote will produce two candidates for a Nov. 27 run-off, with the foremost candidates being two former prime ministers, Alain Juppe and Francois Fillon, and ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy. The result was expected late on Sunday.

With the French left in disarray under the deeply unpopular President Francois Hollande, pollsters suggest that the center-right nominee to emerge after the head-to-head will defeat the National Front's eurosceptic, anti-immigration leader Marine Le Pen in the final round of the election next May.

"We're really tired of Hollande. We need a change," voter Marion, a lawyer, said outside a polling station in central Paris.

Juppe, a moderate conservative campaigning on an inclusive, "happy identity" platform, had for months appeared on track to win the nomination of the Les Republicains party and its center-right allies.

But over the past week the contest has been transformed into a tight race between Juppe, Sarkozy and Fillon, who served as prime minister under Sarkozy from 2007 to 2012.

Juppe, whom Sarkozy has for weeks accused of being held "hostage" by centrist allies, lost his lead in opinion polls to his rivals to the right on the political spectrum. Sarkozy has sought to tap into populist sentiment while Fillon is proposing tough measures to shake up the economy.

A Harris Interactive opinion poll on Sunday showed a majority of those surveyed considered Fillon and Juppe had fought the best campaign.

The race for the presidency is shaping up as new tests of strength between weakened mainstream parties and rising populist forces.

Polls show that whoever wins the conservative ticket should beat Le Pen, because she needs a 50 percent vote to become president and her party has never polled much more than 30 percent.

But after Britain's vote to quit the European Union and Donald Trump's surprise U.S. election win this year, few are prepared to write off her chances entirely.

Should Sarkozy or Fillon emerge as Le Pen's conservative opponent, polls and analysts suggest however that her electoral chances could be higher than if she faces Juppe, who is seen as having a wider voter appeal than his two rivals.

HIGH TURNOUT

A lot could hinge on turnout, with polls saying a high level would favor Juppe.

More than 2.5 million votes had been cast by 1700 local time according to a count conducted in 70 percent of the more than 10,000 polling stations.

Thierry Solere, president of the committee organizing the vote, called that a "considerable turnout" with two hours still left to vote and queues visible at a number of Paris polling stations.

There are other uncertainties in Sunday's vote, in which four more candidates, whom polls forecast have no chance of winning, also took part.

It is the first center-right primary to be held in France, and anyone who pays 2 euros ($2.12) and signs a form showing support for the party's values can take part.

That means voting patterns are to some extent untested, leaving potential for tactical voting by left and far-right supporters as well.

"I am not at all on the Right, I'm very much on the Left and I really want to block Sarkozy and I know that the Left won't get to the second round (of the presidential election) so I just want to stop Sarkozy and Marine Le Pen," one voter, Emeline, said. Thanks.

McDonald's investor renews push for antibiotic reduction in all meat

Dear Viewers,
McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) shareholder is redoubling efforts to convince the fast-food chain to stop all of its global restaurants from serving the meat of animals raised with antibiotics that are vital for fighting human infections.
More than 70 percent of medically important antibiotics in the United States are sold for livestock use. Scientists have warned that the routine use of antibiotics to promote growth and prevent illness in healthy farms animals contributes to the rise of dangerous, antibiotic-resistant "superbug" infections, which kill at least 23,000 Americans each year and pose a significant threat to global health.
The Congregation of Benedictine Sisters of Boerne, Texas, asked directors at McDonald's to prohibit the use of medically important antibiotics in its global poultry supply chain. McDonald's already has adopted that policy for the chicken served in its U.S. restaurants.
The group also asking the fast-food chain to set global targets and timelines for switching to pork and beef raised without the non-therapeutic use of medically important antibiotics.
Just over 20 percent of McDonald's shareholders voted in favor of a similar proposal at this year's annual meeting. The sisters pulled a prior resolution after McDonald's announced its plans to change its policies on chicken in the United States.
The sisters aim to have shareholders vote on the new proposal at McDonald's 2017 annual meeting.
McDonald's told Reuters it continues "to engage with key experts, including some who serve as advisors to the World Health Organization (WHO), to advance progress across the industry."
The company said its current policy "provides guidance to our suppliers in parts of the world where the industry does not yet have systems in place that would allow them to verify compliance throughout the supply chain."
Sister Susan Mika said the resolution is part of an ongoing process.
"I said we will be back," Mika said in a phone interview. "We want them to set goals and to be moving in a certain direction. We expect them to be a leader in taking on these questions of our time."

The sisters are part of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), which along with ShareAction, Farm Animal Investment Risk & Return (FAIRR) Initiative and As You Sow, also are targeting companies such as Sanderson Farms (SAFM.O) and Yum Brands Inc (YUM.N) with similar campaigns aimed at preserving the efficacy of antibiotics. Thanks.

GLOBAL MARKETS-U.S. dollar, stocks climb as Yellen signals rate hike coming

Dear Viewers,

NEW YORK Global stock indexes rose along with the U.S. dollar on Thursday after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the central bank could raise interest rates "relatively soon."

Yellen, who testified on the economic outlook before the congressional Joint Economic Committee, indicated little had changed following the victory of Donald Trump in the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election.

She said she intended to serve out her term, which ends in 2018, and indicated the Fed remained on track to raise rates at its meeting next month.

Expectations have been high among investors that the Fed will raise rates in December.

The dollar receded earlier in the day from a 13-1/2 year peak, though it turned higher after upbeat U.S. economic data stoked expectations of an acceleration in U.S. economic expansion in the fourth quarter.

The dollar index .DXY, tracking the greenback relative to a basket of six foreign currencies, extended gains in U.S. afternoon trading following Yellen's comments and was last up 0.5 percent.

U.S. stocks, which rallied after Republican Donald Trump's surprise White House win on the potential for economic stimulus, edged up, led by a 1.3 percent gain in financials .SPSY, which benefit from higher rates.

"A December rate hike is priced in. A number of Fed speakers have indicated that and they want the market to be prepared for when they do," said Erik Wytenus, global investment specialist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank.

"The Fed, though, is sensitive to the strength of the dollar and they don't want to hike too far too quickly."

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 1.78 points, or 0.01 percent, to 18,869.92, the S&P 500 .SPX had gained 7.22 points, or 0.33 percent, to 2,184.16 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC had added 27.73 points, or 0.52 percent, to 5,322.31.

MSCI's all-country world stock index .MIWD00000PUS was up 0.3 percent, while Europe's STOXX 600 rose 0.6 percent.

In the U.S. bond market, the yield curve steepened after the U.S. data suggested the labor market is tightening and inflation is beginning to gain traction.

That prompted investors to sell government debt with longer-dated maturities.

U.S. consumer prices posted their biggest increase in six months in October, while housing starts surged to a 9-year high and jobless claims fell to the lowest since November 1973.

The 10-year note US10YT=RR fell 15/32 in price to yield 2.275 percent.

Overseas, the Bank of Japan offered to buy unlimited bonds for the first time under a revamped policy framework as domestic debt yields surged in the wake of Trump's election victory.

More broadly, Japan's efforts will raise questions about how far central banks such as the European Central Bank and others will be willing to tolerate steep and sudden rises in government borrowing costs.

Oil prices were higher as expectations of an OPEC deal to limit production outweighed global oversupply concerns. Brent crude oil LCOc1 was up 11 cents a barrel at $46.74, while U.S. crude CLc1 was up 6 cents at $45.63.  Viewers,

NEW YORK Global stock indexes rose along with the U.S. dollar on Thursday after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the central bank could raise interest rates "relatively soon."

Yellen, who testified on the economic outlook before the congressional Joint Economic Committee, indicated little had changed following the victory of Donald Trump in the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election.

She said she intended to serve out her term, which ends in 2018, and indicated the Fed remained on track to raise rates at its meeting next month.

Expectations have been high among investors that the Fed will raise rates in December.

The dollar receded earlier in the day from a 13-1/2 year peak, though it turned higher after upbeat U.S. economic data stoked expectations of an acceleration in U.S. economic expansion in the fourth quarter.

The dollar index .DXY, tracking the greenback relative to a basket of six foreign currencies, extended gains in U.S. afternoon trading following Yellen's comments and was last up 0.5 percent.

U.S. stocks, which rallied after Republican Donald Trump's surprise White House win on the potential for economic stimulus, edged up, led by a 1.3 percent gain in financials .SPSY, which benefit from higher rates.

"A December rate hike is priced in. A number of Fed speakers have indicated that and they want the market to be prepared for when they do," said Erik Wytenus, global investment specialist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank.

"The Fed, though, is sensitive to the strength of the dollar and they don't want to hike too far too quickly."

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 1.78 points, or 0.01 percent, to 18,869.92, the S&P 500 .SPX had gained 7.22 points, or 0.33 percent, to 2,184.16 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC had added 27.73 points, or 0.52 percent, to 5,322.31.

MSCI's all-country world stock index .MIWD00000PUS was up 0.3 percent, while Europe's STOXX 600 rose 0.6 percent.

In the U.S. bond market, the yield curve steepened after the U.S. data suggested the labor market is tightening and inflation is beginning to gain traction.

That prompted investors to sell government debt with longer-dated maturities.

U.S. consumer prices posted their biggest increase in six months in October, while housing starts surged to a 9-year high and jobless claims fell to the lowest since November 1973.

The 10-year note US10YT=RR fell 15/32 in price to yield 2.275 percent.

Overseas, the Bank of Japan offered to buy unlimited bonds for the first time under a revamped policy framework as domestic debt yields surged in the wake of Trump's election victory.

More broadly, Japan's efforts will raise questions about how far central banks such as the European Central Bank and others will be willing to tolerate steep and sudden rises in government borrowing costs.

Oil prices were higher as expectations of an OPEC deal to limit production outweighed global oversupply concerns. Brent crude oil LCOc1 was up 11 cents a barrel at $46.74, while U.S. crude CLc1 was up 6 cents at $45.63. Thanks.

Fears over global populist revolt push up Italy's debt costs

Hello Dear Viewers,

MILAN Concerns that Italy could become the next nation to be hit by a global populist revolt, which could sink Matteo Renzi's premiership in a referendum next month, drove its borrowing costs to their highest for over a year on Friday.

Growing anger at the political mainstream in 2016 has seen Americans elect Donald Trump to the White House this week and Britons vote in June to leave the European Union.

It has also boosted support for anti-establishment parties in other countries in Europe and beyond, and could aid Italy's own 5-Star Movement as it seeks to wreck Renzi's attempts to win backing for constitutional reforms in the Dec. 4 referendum.

The prime minister has staked his political future on the vote over his plans, which would reduce the role of the Senate and take back power from the regions. At the start of his campaign he repeatedly pledged to quit if he lost, but in recent months has refused to confirm this.

Investors see an increasing chance of voters rejecting his measures, which could lead to a period of political upheaval.

Government bond yields jumped to their highest levels since mid-2015 at an auction that failed to reach its planned maximum size as demand for riskier longer-dated bonds wavered.

With one of the world's largest public debt piles, Italy's borrowing costs are closely watched as a potential flashpoint for market instability in the wider euro zone.

They risked spiraling out of control during the sovereign debt crisis until European Central Bank President Mario Draghi pledged in July 2012 to do whatever it took to save the euro.

As well as investor concerns over the referendum, Italian bonds - like others around the world - have also been hit by expectations that Trump's plans to cut taxes and spend on infrastructure would boost global inflation.

French bonds also fell victim to rising political risks this week as the country nears presidential elections next year when the far-right Front National is hoping to benefit from populist discontent.

"A victory for Front National leader (Marine) Le Pen would certainly put the EU's future in question," Credit Suisse said in a note, adding the chances of this happening were very low.

'DEMOLITION MAN'

Opinion polls suggest Italian voters will reject Renzi's reforms. Pollsters, however, got it badly wrong in both the U.S. presidential election and the Brexit vote.

Ironically Renzi himself has appealed to anti-establishment anger, earning the nickname "Demolition Man" when he took power in 2014 for pledges to destroy old political structures. But critics say he has not delivered on his promises.

The 41-year-old prime minister is trying to present the constitutional reform as a break with the past and entrenched powers.

"The referendum is a chance for Italians to choose change and a simpler system that costs less, or to keep the current one, bringing back to power the old guard that has already failed," he said in a broadcast on Facebook this week.

Carlo Galli, a deputy who left Renzi's Democratic Party (PD) for a small left-wing group last year, said the premier was "desperately" trying to show he was not part of an elite.

"It's bizarre to maintain that someone who has sat in Palazzo Chigi (the prime minister's office) for three years is not one of the elite," Galli told La Repubblica newspaper.

'RISING TENSIONS'

In Friday's bond sale, the Treasury sold 6.9 billion euros ($7.5 billion) of bonds, drawing demand for 1.5 times that amount but missing its upper target.

Weak appetite for the bonds due in 2040 and 2047 marked a shift in market mood just over a month after Rome attracted strong demand with its first-ever sale of a 50-year bond.

"Today's auction, with weaker demand at the longer end of the yield curve, is probably one of the first signs of rising tensions on Italy's debt ahead of the referendum," IG strategist Vincenzo Longo said.

Standard & Poor's on Friday confirmed its BBB- rating on Italy with a stable outlook, while cutting its growth forecasts for its chronically sluggish economy to 0.9 percent from 1.1 percent this year and to 0.8 percent from 1.3 percent for 2017.

S&P said the constitutional reform could help political stability and effectiveness, but a rejection of the referendum would not be significant for Italy's creditworthiness unless it led to a reversal of structural reforms.

Rival ratings agency Fitch last month downgraded Italy's outlook to negative from stable, citing its weak growth and high debt as well as the political uncertainty.

Rome has already covered 96 percent of its funding needs for this year but debt management chief Maria Cannata has warned large redemptions next year will make refinancing tough. Thanks.

U.S. drillers add oil rigs for 21st week in 24 -Baker Hughes

Dear Viewers,

U.S. oil drillers increased rigs this week for a 21th week in the last 24, as energy firms follow through on plans to add rigs made months ago when crude was still trading over the key $50 a barrel level analysts said should lead to more drilling.

Drillers added two oil rigs in the week to Nov. 11, bringing the total count up to 452, the most since February, but still below the 574 rigs seen a year ago, energy services firm Baker Hughes Inc said on Friday.

Since crude topped $50 a barrel in May, June and October, drillers have added 136 oil rigs, its biggest recovery in over two years since prices collapsed due to a global oil glut.

The Baker Hughes oil rig count plunged from a record 1,609 in October 2014 to a six-year low of 316 in May as U.S. crude collapsed from over $107 a barrel in June 2014 to near $26 in February 2016.

U.S. crude futures were trading above $43 a barrel on Friday, on track to fall for a third week in a row after OPEC said its output in October reached a record high, casting doubt on whether its plans to limit production would ease persistent oversupply in the market. [O/R]

But with oil prices still expected to rise in 2017 and 2018 with a projected tightening of the supply-demand balance, analysts continued to expect energy firms to follow through on previously announced plans to boost spending on new drilling in coming years.

Futures were trading near $47 a barrel for calendar 2017 and near $50 for calendar 2018.

Analysts at U.S. financial services firm Cowen & Co said this week in a note that its capital expenditure tracking showed 17 exploration and production (E&P) companies, including ConocoPhillips and Concho Resources Inc, planned to increase spending by an average of 33 percent in 2017 over 2016.

Cowen said that forecast 2017 increase followed an estimated 48 percent decline in 2016 and a 35 percent decline in 2015 for the 65 E&P companies it tracks.

Analysts at Simmons & Co, energy specialists at U.S. investment bank Piper Jaffray, this week forecast the total oil and natural gas rig count would average 504 in 2016, 685 in 2017 and 896 in 2018. Most wells produce both oil and gas.

That compares with an average of 978 oil and gas rigs active in 2015, according to Baker Hughes data. Thanks.