SGX Comex Recommendations

INTERNATIONAL COMMODITY NEWS :
Gold prices posted a moderate gain in early Asia on Friday as investors continued to ponder Federal Reserve tea leaves on the prospects of a rate hike by June. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April deliveries rose 0.16% to $1,170.90 a troy ounce. Overnight, gold prices soared for the second consecutive session, one day after somewhat dovish comments from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen regarding a potential interest rate hike helped the precious metal rebound from an extended slump. Although the Federal Open Market Committee removed a reference to remaining patient from its minutes on Wednesday, Yellen insisted that it does not mean that the Fed will raise interest rates by June at the earliest. On the contrary, Yellen asserted that the timing of the decision will be “data dependent,” as the Fed considers indicators such as GDP growth, wage increases and inflation.

TRADING STRATEGY :
BUY GOLD ABOVE 1174 TARGET 1179 1185 SL 1168
SELL GOLD BELOW 1166 TARGET 1161 1155 SL 1172

SGX Stock Recommendations

MARKET UPDATES :

• The Straits Times Index (STI) ended +24.41 points higher or +0.73% to 3386.16, taking the year-to-date per- formance to +0.62%.

• The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index gained +0.45% while the FTSE ST Small Cap Index declined -0.01%. The top active stocks were SingTel (+2.42%), DBS (+0.30%), Noble (-1.73%), OCBC Bank (+1.27%) and UOB (+0.22%).

• The outperforming sectors today were represented by the FTSE ST Telecommunications Index (+2.18%). The two biggest stocks of the FTSE ST Telecommunications Index are SingTel (+2.42%) and StarHub (+0.24%). The underperforming sector was the FTSE ST Industrials Index, which declined -0.64% with Jardine Matheson Holdings’ share price declining -0.70 % and Jardine Strategic Holdings’ share price declining -1.00%.

• The three most active Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) by value today were the SPDR Gold Shares (+1.69%), Lyxor China H (+0.67%), IS MSCI India (unchanged).

• The three most active Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) by value were Ascendas REIT (+2.04%), Capita- Mall Trust (+4.35%), CapitaCom Trust (+2.35%).

• The most active index warrants by value today were HSI24400MBeCW150429 (+26.79%), HSI24400V- TePW150429 (-17.90%), HSI25000MBeCW150429 (+28.38%).

• The most active stock warrants by value today were DBS MB eCW150420 (+8.33%), UOB MB eCW150701 (- 2.73%), KepCorp MBeCW150901 (+5.62%).

Forex Market Update

The dollar recovered against its rivals Thursday after an unexpectedly dovish statement from Federal Reserve policy makers triggered the largest intraday selloff in the buck since 2009.

The euro EURUSD, +0.19%  traded at $1.0653, compared with $1.0831 at Wednesday’s close. The single currency briefly climbed above $1.10 after the close of the Fed’s news conference, its highest intraday level in two weeks.

The U.S. Dollar index DXY, -0.13% a measure of the dollar’s strength against six rival currencies, fell 3.6% intraday on Wednesday, its largest move since a 3.7% decline in March 2009. The index bounced back to 98.0760, up 0.5% on the day.

Against the yen, the dollar USDJPY, -0.02%  on Thursday fetched ¥120.81 compared with ¥120.09 late Wednesday.