Forex Market Update

The dollar has strengthened significantly against nearly every currency in the world in 2014. In fact, the dollar gained about 12.5% compared with a basket of currencies DXY, +0.47%  last year, and has already added about 2% in 2015.

Gasoline Market Update

February gasoline RBG5, -1.52%   gave up a penny, or 0.4%, to $1.32 a gallon, while February heating oil HOG5, -0.99%   was down less than a cent at $1.70 a gallon for a 0.2% loss.

February natural gas NGG15, -1.26%   pulled lower by 4 cents, or 1.2%, to $2.91 per million British thermal units.

Oil loses more ground as Goldman Sachs cuts outlook

The drumbeat of losses for crude-oil futures resumed with the open of electronic trade early Monday, as various analysts sounded pessimistic notes about the commodity’s outlook.

In Globex action during late Asian trading hours, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for February CLG5, -2.38%  was down 83 cents, or 1.7%, at $47.53 a barrel. The move followed a 0.9% loss during Friday‘s regular session on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

KLSE Comex Recommendations

INTERNATIONAL COMMODITY NEWS :

 Gold price gained slightly in early Asia on Monday in a light regional data day and the focus on the dollar.On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery trade at $1,223.80 a troy ounce, up 0.04%.The US dollar index, which measures the dollar against a basked of six major currencies, fell 0.22% to 91.98.Last week, gold rallied to the highest level in almost four weeks on Friday, after the latest U.S. jobs report showed a surprise drop in hourly wages, suggesting that the Federal Reserve could keep rates on hold for longer.The Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy added 252,000 jobs in December, above expectations for jobs growth of 240,000. The unemployment rate ticked down to a six-and-a-half year low 5.6% from 5.8% in November. Economists had forecast a decline to 5.7%.

TRADING STRATEGY :

BUY GOLD ABOVE 1230 TARGET 1235 1241 SL 1224
SELL GOLD BELOW 1221 TARGET 1216 1210 SL 1227

KLSE Stock Recommendations

MARKET UPDATES :

Axiata Group Bhd’s shares on the Bursa Malaysia rose, in early trading this morning, riding high on the positive outlook for its 92 per cent Bangladesh subsidiary, Robi. As at 10.02 am, the counter added four sen to RM6.99 with 230,400 shares changing hands, after opening one sen higher at RM6.96.In a research note today, Maybank Investment Bank (MaybankIB) said Robi’s contribution to Axiata has been growing.“By our estimates, Robi would account for around 6.0 per cent of Axiata’s net profit in 2014. Robi accounts for 20 sen of our Axiata RM7.80 target price.



STOCK RECOMMENDATION :

BUY BUMI ARMADA ABOVE 1.210 TARGET 1.250 1.300 SL 1.170