KLSE Comex Recommendations

INTERNATIONAL COMMODITY NEWS :

 Oil prices were heading for a seventh weekly loss on Friday, with key producers showing no signs of cutting output in the face of a global supply glut.Brent and U.S. crude futures both hit their lowest since 2009 this week and are down more than 50 percent from June, although they inched up on Friday after robust U.S. economic data brightened the outlook for demand.Brent crude had climbed 21 cents to $51.17 a barrel by 0203 GMT. U.S. crude for February delivery was at $49.13, up 34 cents.But supply concerns remained as Saudi Arabia and its Gulf OPEC allies are showing no sign of considering cutting output to boost oil prices even as demand slowed globally.Meanwhile, annual consumer inflation in China remained near the lowest in five years, signaling persistent weakness in the world’s largest energy consumer.”Without any changes to fundamentals, selling appears largely to be jittery investors looking for supply- demand equilibrium,” ANZ analysts said in a note.

TRADING STRATEGY :

BUY GOLD ABOVE 1216.5 TARGET 1221.5 1227.5 SL 1210.5
SELL GOLD BELOW 1208 TARGET 1203 1197 SL 1214

KLSE Stock Recommendations

MARKET UPDATES :

BRENT crude oil prices fell below US$50 (RM179) a barrel for the first time since May 2009 yesterday as global business growth slowed to its weakest in a year, and analysts said a growing supply glut meant more falls were likely.The pace of global business growth eased to its weakest rate in over a year at the end of 2014 as rates of expansion slowed in both the manufacturing and service industries, according to JPMorgan’s Global All-Industry Output Index, produced with Markit.Benchmark Brent crude futures fell more than US$1 to US$49.92 a barrel just before 0800GMT, reaching levels last seen in May 2009, although prices edged back above US$50 later.

STOCK RECOMMENDATION :

BUY FIAMMA HOLDING ABOVE 1.960 TARGET 2.010 2.090 SL 1.910

U.S. stocks surge; S&P 500, Dow gain most in 3 weeks

U.S. stocks ended Thursday with the largest advance in three weeks, as two days of steady oil prices along with dovish comments by a Federal Reserve member helped further fuel a buying frenzy begun Wednesday.

The S&P 500 SPX, +1.79%  added 36.26 points, or 1.8%, to 2,062.14, rising the most in three weeks, with the materials, technology and energy sectors leading gains, each rising more than 2%. Nine out of the 10 S&P sectors ended with a gain of more than 1%.

Dollar index rises for 7th-straight session

The ICE U.S. Dollar Index rose for the seventh-consecutive session Friday, boosted by rising crude-oil prices, a strong performance by U.S. stocks and the expectation that the European Central Bank will soon expand its program of asset purchases.

The dollar index, a measure of the dollar’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six currencies, the heaviest of which is the euro, DXY, -0.13%  was up 0.48% to 92.3300 Thursday.

The shared currency EURUSD, +0.10%  fell to $1.175, its lowest since late 2005, around 8 a.m. Eastern time. It was valued at $1.179 in recent trade, down from $1.183 late Wednesday.

The dollar traded at USDJPY, -0.26%  was at ¥119.63, compared with ¥119.16 late Wednesday in New York.

After hitting an 18-month low of around $1.503 earlier in the session, the pound GBPUSD, +0.01% recovered against the dollar, but remained slightly lower for the session, after the Bank of England left its benchmark interest rate at 0.5% and left its bond-buying stimulus program unchanged. 

The pound traded at $1.51 in recent trade.

Palladium Market Update

Palladium for March PAH5, +0.38%  delivery rose 65 cents to $793.10 an ounce, while April platinum PLJ5, +0.11%  was $2.10 to $1,223 an ounce. High-grade copper for March delivery HGH5, -0.27%  added a penny, or 0.4%, to $2.77 a pound.