I. Precious Metals
Gold

Gold on Monday marked a new low for the year to date after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's declaration that a trade war between China and the United States was "on hold" helped boost appetite for higher-risk assets, such as stocks. Buoyancy in U.S. Treasury yields also weighed on appetite for non-interest-bearing assets, like bullion, analysts said.

Spot gold fell to its lowest since late December at $1,281.76 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for June delivery settled down 40 cents, or 0.03 percent, at $1,290.90 per ounce. A stronger dollar makes assets priced in the U.S. greenback more expensive for holders of other currencies, while a bounce in yields had added to pressure on gold.

Gold prices will likely meet resistance at the level of $1,300 an ounce and the 200-day moving average at $1,307, and see rangebound between $1,282-$1,307.

Silver

Silver was up 0.4 percent at $16.49 an ounce on Monday after crossing below the key mark of $16.27 during the session. The white metal outperformed bullion recently, but recent rally in the dollar index will cast a shadow on whether it could breach the resistance of $16.62. If not, we will maintain our view on rangebound trading as it could only rebound in the near term, instead of triggering a wave of rally.

II. Commodities
Crude Oil

U.S. crude hit its highest level since 2014 on Monday amid rising concerns that Venezuela's oil output could fall further following the country's presidential election and potential sanctions on the OPEC-member nation.

Venezuela's socialist President Nicolas Maduro faced widespread international condemnation on Monday after his re-election in a weekend vote his critics denounced as a farce cementing autocracy in the crisis-stricken oil producer. The United States is actively considering oil sanctions on Venezuela, where output has dropped by a third in two years to its lowest in decades.

Beyond Venezuela's production woes, geopolitical concerns that U.S. sanctions on Iran could curb the country's crude exports have led prices to trade higher in recent weeks.

U.S. crude futures settled 96 cents, or 1.4 percent, firmer at $72.24 a barrel, after touching $72.33, the highest since November 2014. In post-settlement trade, the benchmark hit a fresh 3-1/2 year high at 72.41. Brent crude futures gained 71 cents, or 0.9 percent, to settle at $79.22 a barrel.

Copper

Copper rose to a one-week high on Monday as fears over a U.S.-China trade war eased, countering the impact of a rising dollar. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin declared the U.S. trade war with China "on hold" following an agreement to drop tariff threats that had roiled global markets this year.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange ended up 0.4 percent at $6,879 a tonne, having hit a one-week high of $6,923.

Copper hasn't fallen significantly whereas the dollar has had a nice recovery in recent months. It tells that copper is likely to keep rebounding as people are convinced demand will outweigh supply growth.

Soybean

U.S. soybean futures jumped more than 2 percent on Monday after Washington and Beijing agreed to drop tariff threats. The U.S. trade war with China is "on hold" after the world's two largest economies agreed to drop their tariff threats while they work on a wider trade agreement, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday. President Donald Trump said China pledged to buy "massive amounts" of American agricultural products, but did not offer details.

Chicago Board of Trade July soybeans rose 26-3/4 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $10.25-1/4 a bushel. CBOT July soymeal rose $2.8 to $379.1 per ton. CBOT July soyoil ended up 0.44 cents to 31.42 per pound.

Dealing Room, ICBC Beijing Branch
                        Huang Han