I. Precious Metals
Gold
Gold was little changed but held above last week's 10-1/2-month low on Wednesday as a retreat in the dollar from the previous session's 14-year peak prompted some buyers to hunt bargains after the metal's sharp slide from its November high. Bullion gave up earlier gains as the greenback came off session lows against a basket of six major currencies, while stocks edged down. Spot gold was down 0.06 percent at $1,131.11 an ounce, after trading as high as $1,137.12. U.S. gold futures for February delivery settled down 0.04 percent at $1,133.20 per ounce. Hefty outflows from gold-backed exchange-traded funds of late have been pressuring gold, HSBC said in a note.
On technical front, gold steadied at lows with the opening of Bollinger path widening, and its lower end showing further downside momentum. But the MACD index indicated a rebalance between market bulls and bears, suggesting uncertainty in coming sessions. The RSI index, however, pointed to oversold range, suggesting possible correction in the near term with resistance at $1,150.

Silver
Silver tracked gold, bouncing off below the key mark of $16. Spot silver was down 0.9 percent at $15.93. Technically, current prices were above the lower end of Bollinger path, while the MACD index pointed to be bearish. The white metal is expected to fall further after crossing below $15.80.

II. Commodities
Crude Oil
Oil futures fell on Wednesday after Libya said it expects to boost production over the next few months and a report showing a surprise build in U.S. crude inventories last week. Brent futures for February delivery fell 89 cents, or 1.6 percent, to settle at $54.46 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for February lost 81 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $52.49 per barrel. Even though WTI futures for February were down, the U.S. front-month gained about 0.5 percent due to the contract roll from lower-priced January to the higher-priced February on Tuesday and closed at its highest level in over a week. Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) confirmed on Tuesday that pipelines leading from Sharara and El Feel fields had reopened, saying it hoped to add 270,000 barrels per day (bpd) to national production over the next three months. The big question is what will OPEC do about the Libyan increase.

Copper
Copper prices held steady on Wednesday but remained under pressure from worries about an oversupplied market and funds cutting bets on higher prices over coming days. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange ended up 0.2 percent at $5,515 a tonne. That compares with the four-week low of $5,459 hit on Monday. Expectations of stronger global economic and demand growth have helped copper rise nearly 20 percent since October. Also weighing on copper is a dwindling market deficit, which according to the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) fell to 29,000 tonnes in the Jan-Sept period from a deficit of 227,000 tonnes between January and June.

Soybean
U.S. soybean futures rose on Wednesday as the market rebounded from its lowest level in nearly a month, traders said. Most-active Chicago Board of Trade March soybeans rose 1-1/4 cents to $10.17 a bushel after hitting their lowest price since Nov. 21 on Tuesday. It touched a session show of 10.5-1/4. Soybean traders kept an eye on the dry weather conditions in Argentina despite that expectations for rains in dry areas of Argentina weighed on prices on Tuesday. But concerns about crop plantings in Argentina are likely to boost global demand for U.S. soybeans. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said exporters had struck deals to sell 132,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans to China, the world's top soybean importer. The USDA on Thursday will report its weekly soybean export sales for 2016/17 and 2017/18 delivery, which is expected to fall between 1.1 million to 1.5 million tonnes.

Dealing Room, ICBC Beijing Branch
Li Nan