I. Precious Metals
Gold
Gold rose to a three-month peak on Wednesday, as political risks posed by elections in Europe and worries over U.S. President Donald Trump's policies stoked safe haven demand. Spot gold rose 0.5 percent at $1,239.27 an ounce, after rising to its highest since Nov.11 at $1,244.67. Investors are concerned about the strong showing in the French presidential race of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who has promised to take France out of the euro zone and to hold a referendum on European Union membership. The euro recovered after falling against the dollar on political risks, as the single currency gained from investors' wariness over Trump's protectionism and immigration policy and his hints that he would prefer a weaker dollar. News about impeachment against Trump also stirred new worries about political risks in the U.S. There's underlying demand for gold as a hedge against political uncertainties on both sides of the Atlantic. Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose for a fifth straight session on Tuesday, showing strong market morale. Gold is expected to extend gains and breach across $1,250.

Silver
Silver rose 0.3 percent to $17.76 an ounce after rising to $17.87, its strongest since Nov. 11. On chart, silver tracked gold, but failed to cross over the strong resistance at the 200-day moving average. Consolidating under the level for a breakthrough, the white metal is quite likely to breach above the key mark as it further flattens.

II. Commodities
Crude Oil
Oil prices rose slightly on Wednesday as investors covered short positions after a rise in U.S. crude inventories was not as massive as many had feared, while gasoline futures jumped 4 percent after a surprise decline in inventories of the fuel. U.S. crude stocks rose by 13.8 million barrels in the week to Feb. 3 as refineries cut output, while gasoline stocks decreased, the Energy Information Administration said. The surge in crude stocks did not shock the market, since preliminary data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) late on Tuesday showed an even bigger increase. Data showed the surprise decline in inventories after five straight weeks of increases. Brent crude futures settled at $55.12 per barrel, up 0.13 percent. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 0.33 percent, to settle at $52.34 a barrel. Oil prices came under pressure early as calculations showed China's 2016 oil demand grew at its slowest pace in at least three years.

Copper
Copper prices rose on Wednesday after the world's top two mines said strikes and permit delays would force them to cut output, squeezing global supply. BHP Billiton began to halt production at Escondida in Chile, the world's biggest copper mine, ahead of a strike set to begin on Thursday. Escondida produced 1.15 million tonnes of copper in 2015, about 6 percent of the world's total. Freeport-McMoRan Inc meanwhile warned it would scale back activities at its Grasberg copper mine in Indonesia due to labour unrest. The company has also said it would cut production if it did not receive a new export permit by mid-February. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange closed up 1.7 percent at $5,895 a tonne, erasing a decline of 0.9 percent in the previous session. Funds were adding to their long positions in base metals, helping to drive prices higher, a trader said. Analysts at Goldman Sachs said a 20-day strike at Escondida and a one-month delay in Grasberg's receipt of an export permit would cause lost output of almost 100,000 tonnes. That would exceed the expected global surplus of 80,000 tonnes this year according to a poll of analysts.

Soybean
U.S. soybean futures jumped to a two-week high on Wednesday on increasing export demand for U.S. supply and investment fund buying. Chicago Board of Trade March soymeal and soyoil futures rose at least 1 percent as firm soybean and soymeal product prices in China underpinned U.S. soy. Market expected the USDA monthly bulletin would show declining ending stock in U.S. and the world. CBOT March soybeans settled up 16 cents to $10.58-3/4 per bushel. CBOT March soymeal futures added $5.3 at $341.2 a tonne. CBOT March soyoil futures gained 0.39 cents at $34.69 per lb. Traded volumes of soybean, soymeal and soyoil were expected to stood at 312,507 lots, 127,019 lots, and 140,928 lots respectively.

Dealing Room, ICBC Beijing Branch
Lv Yan