I. Precious Metals
Gold
Gold edged up on Wednesday, hovering below Monday's one-month high as uncertainty about Brexit talks, French elections and U.S. President Donald Trump's economic policies boosted safe-haven buying and offset a firmer dollar. Spot gold was up 0.05 percent at $1,252.2 an ounce. British Prime Minister Theresa May filed formal Brexit divorce papers on Wednesday, triggering years of negotiations. The dollar extended gains for the third straight day after several policymakers’ comments, capping gold’s gains. Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, reported an outflow of 1.8 tonnes on Tuesday. Uncertainty in Europe with French elections coming up in 3 weeks also provided some support.
Gold failed to breach the peak at $1,263.80 following the Federal Reserve’s dovish move in raising interest rates. On the one hand, most policymakers supported two more U.S. rate hikes this year. On the other hand, uncertainty in French elections will come up at the end of April or early May. Bullion is expected to trade between $1,220 and $1,260 in near term.

Silver
Silver rose 0.2 percent to $18.19 an ounce after hitting $18.24, the highest since March 2. Overall, silver would track gold to trade in rangebound in near term. Technically, the white metal could find strong resistance around $18.5. Nearing the upper band of Bollinger band, silver is likely to pull back in the coming sessions.

II. Commodities
Crude Oil
OPEC oil output is likely to fall for a third straight month in March as the United Arab Emirates made progress in trimming supplies while maintenance and unrest cut production in exempt nations Nigeria and Libya. A survey showed Saudi Arabia's output rose slightly in March from a large reduction in February. Even with March's increase, the total curb achieved is 564,000 bpd, well above the target cut of 486,000 bpd. As a result, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and as of this month, the UAE, compensated for the weaker adherence of other members, including Algeria, Ecuador, Gabon and Venezuela. Oil prices rose more than 2 percent on Wednesday. U.S. crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures ended up at $49.51 a barrel. Brent crude futures settled higher at $52.42 a barrel.
On technical front, U.S. crude and Brent could find support at around $47.3 and $50.5 respectively. Both contracts are expected to remain rangebound in near term.

Copper
London copper held steady near its highest in more than a week on Wednesday, buoyed by brighter data from the United STates, and expectations of seasonally improving second-quarter demand. U.S. consumer confidence surged to a more than 16-year high in March amid growing labor market optimism while the goods trade deficit narrowed sharply in February, indicating the economy was regaining momentum after faltering at the start of the year. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange edged up 0.6 percent to $5,907 a tonne, with the key resistance at $6,000 hard to breach. Strike at the world's biggest copper mine in Chile was set to end, while market participants would shift their focus to U.S. President Donald Trump’s economic stimulus. But President Trump’s failed healthcare reform cast a doubt on the prospect of his new policy.

Soybean
U.S. soybean futures fell to the lowest since October 13 on Wednesday as investors squared positions ahead of U.S. Department of Agriculture plantings and grain stocks data on Friday. But the contracts managed to pare early losses to closed down only slightly. USDA is expected to show increased U.S. soybean plantings, traders and analysts said. Ample U.S. supplies and bumper South American harvests are expected to weigh on soybean prices. Chicago Board of Trade May soybean futures settled 3 cents lower at $9.69 per bushel.

Dealing Room, ICBC Beijing Branch
Qin Gang