Comex Recommendations : Epic Research Malaysia

INTERNATIONAL COMMODITY NEWS :
Gold prices eased on Wednesday with investors looking ahead to comments from the Federal Reserve on the prospects for a rate hike this year.On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery eased 0.05% to trade at $1,292.30 a troy ounce.Overnight, gold erased losses to hit the highest levels of the session on Tuesday, after data showed that U.S. durable goods orders fell unexpectedly in December, fuelling concerns over the strength of the economy. In a report, the U.S. Commerce Department said that total durable goods orders, which include transportation items, fell by 3.4% last month, compared to expectations for a gain of 0.5%.Core durable goods orders, excluding volatile transportation items, declined by 0.8% in December, disappointing forecasts for a 0.6% gain.





TRADING STRATEGY :
BUY GOLD ABOVE 1298 TARGET 1303 1309 SL 1292
SELL GOLD BELOW 1283 TARGET 1278 1272 SL 1289

Forex Market Update :Epic Research Malaysia

The U.S. dollar weakened against its main rivals Tuesday after the Commerce Department said durable-goods orders were surprisingly weak in December.

The euro EURUSD, -0.36% climbed to $1.1351, from $1.1239 late Monday.

The dollar traded at USDJPY, +0.23% to ¥117.81, compared with ¥118.48 late Monday in New York.

The franc fell to its lowest level since the SNB ditched the trading cap. The euro EURCHF, -0.07% traded as high as 1.0381 francs, from 1.0150 earlier in European trading. The shared currency was worth 1.0258 francs in recent trade. The dollar USDCHF, +0.28% rose to 0.9042 francs, up from 0.9030 late Monday.

In other currencies, the pound GBPUSD, -0.24% rose to $1.5192 after the durable-goods orders data.

The ICE U.S. Dollar Index, DXY, +0.24% a measure of the dollar’s value against a basket of six trade-weighted currencies, was down 0.76% to 94.0860.

Gasoline Market Update :Epic Research Malaysia

Elsewhere in energy trading, gasoline for February RBG5, +0.64% rose 3 cents, or 2.5%, to $1.3501 a gallon on Nymex, while February heating oil HOG5, -0.90% gained 2 cents, or 1.4%, to $1.6628 a gallon on Nymex.

February natural gas NGG15, -1.95% advanced 10 cents, or 3.5%, to $2.9810 per million British thermal units. The contract, which is set to expire on Wednesday, slumped 3.5% on Monday.

Oil Market Update :Epic Research Malaysia

Crude-oil futures rose more than 2% on Tuesday, as some optimism about curtailing output seemed to permeate markets and ahead of a fresh weekly report on stockpiles.

Light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March CLH5, -1.32% rose $1.08, or 2.4%, to settle at $46.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude for March delivery LCOH5, -1.03% added $1.44, or 3%, to $49.60 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Exchange. Futures earlier hit an intraday low at $47.67 a barrel, and traded as high as $49.99 a barrel.

Platinum Market Update:Epic Research Malaysia

In other metals, platinum for April delivery PLJ5, -0.10% climbed $9.30, or 0.7%, to $1,264.30 an ounce, while palladium for March delivery PAH5, -0.35% fell $1.10, or 0.1%, to $780.75 an ounce.

High-grade copper for March delivery HGH5, +0.45% fell 8 cents to $2.46 a pound.