I. Precious Metals
Gold

Gold prices rose on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar fell to fresh three-year lows, but an end to uncertainty created by a three-day U.S. government shutdown capped gains.

Spot gold was up 0.3 percent at $1,337.36 an ounce at 1:38 p.m. EST (1838 GMT) after touching a one-week high of $1,339.09, while U.S. gold futures for February delivery settled up $4.80, or 0.4 percent, at $1,336.70 per ounce.

The dollar index fell to a fresh three-year low against a basket of six currencies, after data showed euro zone consumer confidence jumped much more than expected in January, underlining the strong momentum in its economy.

U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields fell to a five-day low, while 30-year bond yields sank to a one-week low. Declining yields typically make gold more attractive to non-U.S. investors.

Despite of yesterday’s gains, the risk of building long positions mounted due to an end to uncertainty created by U.S. government shutdown, and faster economic growth in the world's largest economy against the dollar index at historic lows. Investors are recommended to cash in profits.

Silver

Silver was down 0.5 percent at $16.92 an ounce after touching a $3-1/2-week low of $16.73, nearing the 50-day moving average of $16.70. The white metal underperformed compared with gold, suggesting incoming changes.

Technical front, silver managed to hold at lower band of the $16.9-$17.5 range. Investors are recommended to trim their positions to prevent risks, if it fell below the 100-day moving average of $16.92.

II. Commodities
Crude Oil

Oil rose more than 1 percent on Tuesday, with benchmark Brent crude hitting $70 a barrel for the first time in a week, boosted by healthy world economic growth prospects and expectations for continued production curbs by OPEC, Russia and their allies.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures closed up 90 cents to $64.47 a barrel, for a gain of 1.4 percent. Brent crude futures settled up 93 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $69.96, not far off the three-year high of $70.37 reached on Jan. 15.

The International Monetary Fund on Monday revised upward its forecast for global growth to 3.9 percent for both 2018 and 2019, a 0.2 percentage point increase from its last update in October, which could help demand for petroleum products. It comes as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers continue their supply-cut agreement which began in January 2017 and is due to run until the end of 2018.

The rally also came with expectation for a tighter supply. Analysts forecast a 1.6 million-barrel draw, the 10th-week decline in stockpiles. Venezuela's output fell to a meager 2 million bpd in 2017, far short of expectations for 2.5 million bpd, and the International Energy Agency said it could keep declining in 2018.
Investors are suggested to stay on the sidelines on unclear clues over future tendency.

Copper

Copper prices fell to their lowest in a month on Tuesday after rising inventories showed healthy supplies of refined metal. On-warrant copper stocks in facilities certified by the London Metal Exchange jumped by 28 percent on Tuesday, data showed.

The global deficit of refined copper narrowed in October to 2,000 tonnes from 113,000 tonnes in September, the International Copper Study Group said in its latest monthly bulletin. Three-month LME copper closed 2.1 percent weaker at $6,923 a tonne, the weakest since Dec. 20.

LME prices, however, would see decent support in the first half of the year due to worries about potential disruptions stemming from the expiry of labour contracts at some copper mines and restrictions on scrap metals into China.

China's imports of scrap copper fell 19.8 percent in December from a year earlier, customs data showed on Tuesday. Yesterday’s decline can be seen as a correction to recent gains.

Soybean

Soybeans edged slightly higher on Tuesday, gaining for the seventh straight session to the highest in about six weeks. Warm and dry conditions stressed the developing crop in Argentina, the No. 3 soy producer after the United States and Brazil, prompting buying.

CBOT March soybeans were up 2 cents at $9.86-1/4, weakening after an earlier high of $9.88-3/4. Analytics firm Informa Economics trimmed its forecasts for 2018 U.S. Soybean. CBOT soymeal rose $1 to $339.6 per ton. CBOT soyoil ended up 36 cents to 32.52 per pound.

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                        Huang Han