I. Precious Metals
Gold
Gold rose to the highest in nearly two months on Wednesday, after North Korea said it is considering an attack on the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam and U.S. President Donald Trump boasted of the strength of the American nuclear arsenal. The tensions rattled global markets, sending investors out of equities and into the safety of the Swiss franc, government debt and gold. Spot gold was up at $1,272.90 an ounce, on track to post the largest single-day jump in almost three months. The "fear gauge" hit its highest in more than a month. Geopolitical tensions, the dominant theme at present, pushed up safe-haven sentiment despite of better-than-expected U.S. economic data, boosting bullion prices.
On technical front, gold crossed above the resistance of $1,272, but is capped at the year-to-end high of $1,295, as the upside at the moment is the favored direction unless we start to see a conflict break out or a major stock market correction. Investors are recommended to short gold under $1,300 and set stop-loss.

Silver
Silver jumped to $16.869 an ounce, buoyed by safe-haven sentiment. On chart, the white metal breached over the 50-day moving average of $16.57, but still lingered under the 100-day and 200-day moving average. Fierce fight can be expected at the aforementioned level. In the near term, silver will track gold.

II. Commodities
Crude Oil
Oil prices were about 1 percent higher on Wednesday after a report showed U.S. refineries processed record amounts of crude in the latest week, eating into inventories, although a surprise jump in gasoline stockpiles limited price gains. U.S. crude inventories fell 6.5 million barrels last week, government data showed, steeper than the expected decrease of 2.7 million barrels. Refiners processed nearly 17.6 million barrels of crude, surpassing a record set in May and the most for any week since the U.S. Department of Energy started keeping data in 1982. Prices are expected to consolidate at highs due to the OPEC meeting this month and the drop in U.S. crude stocks. Technically, we maintain our view on profit-taking at highs with resistance at $50.3 and $52.8.

Copper
Copper lingered around an almost 2-/2-year high. It ended down 0.2 percent to $6,466.50 after touching $6,493 on Tuesday, its highest since December 2014. China's exports and imports grew much less than expected in July, raising concerns over whether global demand is starting to cool even as major Western central banks consider scaling back years of massive stimulus support. Investors shall be wary of the risk of a turnaround.

Soybean
U.S. soybean futures closed modestly higher on Wednesday, extending gains to the third consecutive day, as updated midday weather forecasts looked drier for the Midwest crop belt, lending support. CBOT benchmark soybeans ended up 0.2 percent at $9.74-3/4 a bushel. It closed up 0.4 percent on Tuesday after hitting $9.79-3/4, the highest since August 2, during the session.

Dealing Room, ICBC Beijing Branch
Qin Gang