I. Precious Metals
Gold
Gold rallied to the highest level in nearly three weeks on Tuesday, extending its gains starting from last Wednesday with resistance at the 200-day moving average of $1,260. On fundamentals, French centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron cemented his position as the front-runner in the French presidential race in the first televised debate on Monday versus anti-European Union contender Marine Le Pen, reducing the dollar's safe-haven appeal and offering upward momentum to bullion. Gold prices were also underpinned by uncertainty over President Donald Trump's policy direction. Holdings of the largest gold-backed exchange traded fund, New York-listed SPDR Gold TrustGLD rose 0.50 percent to 834.40 tonnes from 830.25 tonnes on Monday. Investors bought in gold once again.
On technical front, we maintained our view that gold is more likely to retain its steam despite of a consolidation in near term for direction. Support and resistance can be found at $1,200 and $1,250 respectively. The movement around the 200-day moving average of $1,260 shall be closely watched.

Silver
Silver tracked gold. The movement at around the 50-day moving average of $17.50 shall be further confirmed. On technical front, the white metal, under the pressure of the 50-day moving average of $17.50, would rise all the way to the 200-day moving average of $18.05 if the level is breached above. The support can be found at the key mark of $17.

II. Commodities
Crude Oil
Oil prices fell on Tuesday, with U.S. crude dropping to its lowest since November, as concerns about new supplies overshadowed the latest talk by OPEC that it was looking to extend output cuts beyond June. But that deal has unintentionally helped what could be the largest increase in mega projects' production in history. U.S. drillers added 14 oil rigs in the week to March 17, bringing the total count up to 631, the most since September 2015. New production projects and a fresh shale boom could boost output by a million barrels per year and result in an oversupply in the next couple of years.
On technical front, U.S. crude slipped to around $48, not far away from $45, the lowest since November 2016 that was followed by an almost 20 percent rebound. We maintain our view on the movement in the near term, that U.S. Crude would be traded between $47.25 to 50.76, while Brent is expected to swing between $50.5 to $53.5.

Copper
Copper hit a one-week low on Tuesday as talks to resolve a strike at the world's biggest copper mine in Chile were set to resume and production at another huge mine in Indonesia restarted. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange ended down 1.8 percent at $5,776 a tonne, more than erasing the previous session's 0.9 percent gain. The metal had earlier touched $5,761, its lowest since March 14. Once (the strikes) are over, there could be quite a sharp fall in prices given demand from China seems quite subdued. Copper prices are expected to remain weak in near term.

Soybean
U.S. soybean futures eked out a higher close on some late bargain-buying after falling for 10 of the past 11 sessions. But amply global supply capped gains. CBOT May soybeans were up 2 cents at $10.01-1/2 a bushel. The trading volume of soybeans, soymean and soyoil is expected to stand at 167,463 lots, 93,747 lots and 139,800 lots respectively.

Dealing Room, ICBC Beijing Branch
Cheng Yu