I. Precious Metals
Gold
Gold reached its highest in 3-1/2 months on Friday as the dollar fell to a one-week low after the new U.S. Treasury chief poured cold water on the "Trumpflation trade" that had boosted the greenback this year. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday that any steps U.S. President Donald Trump's administration takes on policy would probably have only limited impact this year, though he wants to see tax reform passed by August. The comments suggested much work was still needed on the sweeping tax plan. Spot gold was up 0.6 percent at $1,256.75 an ounce, having touched its highest since Nov.11 at $1,260.10 earlier, zeroing in on the 200-day moving average. U.S. gold futures settled up 0.55 percent at $1,258.30.
Also helping gold include a vacuum of U.S. domestic policy, real interest rates going down, the dollar going sideways, investors cutting bets on Trump’s policy stoking economic growth, global major stock markets falling down, risk appetite going down, and geopolitical jitters around the world. On technical front, gold touched the 200-day moving average of $1,260 with K-chart showing a good upward pattern. The yellow metal is expected to pick up further if it could successful cross over $1,260.

Silver
Silver rose 0.8 percent to $18.30 per ounce, having touched its highest in 3-1/2-months at $18.40. Silver has gained about 1.8 percent this week in what could be its ninth straight weekly gain. After crossing over the 200-day moving average, an upside trend was underpinned. The gold-silver ratio continued to drop and is expected to move up along the 30-degree angle.

II. Commodities
Crude Oil
Oil prices fell about 1 percent on Friday as worries about rising U.S. supplies outweighed OPEC pledges to boost compliance with output curbs. U.S. drillers added oil rigs for a sixth consecutive week, extending a nine-month recovery, energy services firm Baker Hughes Inc said. Prices were also pressured by book squaring ahead of the weekend and upcoming Feb. 28 expirations in Brent futures for April delivery, heating oil for March delivery, and March RBOB gasoline. Brent crude oil settled down 59 cents, or 1.04 percent, at $55.99 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate ended the session 46 cents lower at $53.99 a barrel. Prices tumbled over the last two sessions after government data showed U.S. crude inventories rose for a seventh straight week. But crude prices were on track for a weekly rise as traders have begun to pull out barrels from pricey storage, with physical markets showing signs of tightening. Both benchmarks notched a weekly gain of about 1.1 percent.
But they have been supported within a tight $4 to $5 range since November, when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers agreed to cut production. Oil prices are subject to sharp changes as the weekly MACD momentum column continued to shrink, and price volatility narrowed down. A downturn can be expected if Trump’s addressing at a Joint Session of Congress on Feb. 28 fails to give more details on policy stimulus.

Copper
Copper clawed back some of the previous session's hefty losses on Friday as supply disruptions in Chile and Indonesia lent support, but still posted a second straight weekly drop as concerns over the demand outlook weighed. The metal remained well off its February peak on Friday. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange closed at $5,928 a tonne, up 1.2 percent from the previous day but still half a percent lower on the week. The metal used in construction fell 3 percent on Thursday, its biggest one-day drop in 17 months, as traders flagged persistent worries over Chinese consumption.
All the signs coming out of China are that the authorities are committed to reining in credit growth this year, rather than stimulating economic growth at all costs. China's refined copper imports fell 14 percent last month, Chinese customs data showed on Friday. That would be negative for copper.

Soybean
Soybeans closed modestly higher, bouncing after the spot March contract hit the lowest since mid-January. March soybeans finished up 2 cents at $10.13-1/2 a bushel, rebounding after falling to $10.09-1/4, its lowest since Jan. 12. For the week, the contract was down 19 cents or 1.8 percent, declining for the second consecutive week. Traded volumes of soybean, soymeal and soyoil were expected to stood at 250,628 lots, 112,507 lots, and 121,375 lots respectively.

Dealing Room, ICBC Beijing Branch
Huang Han