I. Precious Metals
Gold
Gold rose to the highest since December 9 at $1,167 an ounce before closing at $1,161 on Wednesday as the dollar edged back from a 14-year peak and physical demand from major consumers China and India increased. Technical buying was in the driver’s seat for recent gains. The dollar index has consolidated and the big outflow from exchange-traded products (ETPs), which has been the biggest headwind for gold in the past few months, has stopped recently. Holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, dropped 1 percent to 813.87 tonnes on Tuesday. Holdings are down about 14 percent since the U.S. presidential election in November. The dollar had been consolidating after solid manufacturing report. Gold's ascent in the past two weeks could come to a halt in the event of strong U.S. non-farm payrolls for December, due for release on Friday, as these would give a boost to the dollar and increase optimism about the world's largest economy.
On technical front, gold rose for the second consecutive week after declining for 7 straight weeks since the U.S. presidential election in November. The yellow metal regained around 2.7 percent post a 12 percent loss, suggesting further upside momentum with weekly resistance at $1,180 an ounce.

Silver

Silver was up 0.31 percent at $16.32 an ounce in steadied trading. Technically, a fierce fight can be seen at the key resistance of $16.5. But its strength is weakening. The white metal is expected to hit the resistance of the 50-day moving average of $16.8 in this wave of rebound.

II. Commodities
Crude Oil

Oil prices rose nearly 2 percent on Wednesday on expectations U.S. crude inventories have dropped and on signs that the world's top oil exporters will stick to agreed output cuts that took effect this week. Global benchmark Brent crude futures rose 99 cents to settle at $56.46 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 93 cents to end at $53.26 a barrel. Both benchmarks recovered some losses from the previous day when the U.S.-dollar hit a 14-year peak and knocked oil from 18-month highs. The industry group the American Petroleum Institute reported that crude stockpiles fell 7.4 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 30, in line with expectations. Investors are expecting a draw in oil inventories in the Energy Information Administration’s report due for release on Thursday. OPEC member Kuwait also lifted expectations that producers will comply with a deal to reduce oversupply after its state-owned oil producer said on Wednesday it would cut output in the first quarter. As part of the deal, Kuwait has to reduce output by 131,000 barrels per day. Also reflecting a tightening market, traders expect top oil exporter Saudi Arabia to raise the official selling price for its crude to Asia in February.

Copper

Copper rose on Wednesday as the dollar retreated from a 14-year high and Chinese plans to add 2,100 km of track to its railway network this year bolstered demand expectations. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange closed 2.6 percent up at $5,645 a tonne, breaking through key resistance at $5,610 a tonne. China Railway Corporation on Tuesday announced plans to spend 800 billion yuan to build 2,100 km of track, 2,500 km of double-track and electrify 4,000 km of railroad to meet the fixed-asset investment plan of the state. The company also pledged to improve its capital efficiency of railroad this year. Another positive for copper is a drop in stocks at LME-approved warehouses. At 305,875 tonnes, stocks are down 11.5 percent since Dec. 16.

Soybean

U.S. soybean futures rose 1.9 percent on Wednesday, breaking across the 10-day, 100-day and 200-day moving average successively. Soymeal and soyoil futures also firmed boosted by rising crude prices. Chicago Board of Trade March soybean futures settled up 20-1/4 cents at $10.15-1/4 a bushel. March soymeal was up $7 to $319.1 a tonne. March soyoil closed up 0.4 cents to 35.21 cents. The trading volume of the CBOT soybean, soymeal and soyoil was expected at 147,356 lots, 69,629 lots and 96,775 lots respectively.

Dealing Room, ICBC Beijing Branch
                          Lv Yan