INTERNATIONAL COMMODITY NEWS :
Gold prices gained some ground on Tuesday, but still remained vulnerable as the U.S. dollar was trading near nine-year highs against a basket of other major currencies.On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery were up 0.47% to $1,187.40.The February contract ended Monday’s session 1.12% lower at $1,181.90 an ounce.Safe-haven demand strengthened after Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said on Monday that he will recommend parliamentary elections are held on January 25, almost 18 months before his coalition’s term was due to end.The announcement came as Samaras failed in his third attempt to persuade lawmakers to back his candidate for head of state, forcing the legislature’s dissolution.
TRADING STRATEGY :
BUY GOLD ABOVE 1204 TARGET 1209 1215 SL 1198
SELL GOLD BELOW 1197 TARGET 1192 1186 SL 1203
MARKET UPDATES :
- Singapore’s annual economic growth likely slowed in the fourth quarter after manufacturing output in November came in much weaker than expected, a Reuters poll showed.Gross domestic product was seen expanding 2.0 per cent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, moderating from 2.8 per cent year-on-year growth in the third quarter, according to the median forecast in the poll of 12 economists.
- THE Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on Tuesday said it will be offering a total of nine sites under the confirmed list and five sites on the reserve list totalling 14 hectares of land for sale under the Industrial Government Land Sales Programme for the first half of 2015.The confirmed list of nine sites occupies 6.46 hectares of land while the reserve list will yield 7.62 ha. In H2 and H1 2014, the figures for the confirmed list sites were 12.06 ha and 12.07 ha respectively.
- A SECOND ex-president of Singapore Technologies Marine Ltd (ST Marine) has been charged in court, in a corruption scandal that has implicated six of its former high level executives.See Leong Teck, who was president of ST Marine from December 1997 and retired in February 2008, faces seven counts under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The 64-year-old is accused of conspiring with four former colleagues Mok Kim Whang, Patrick Lee Swee Ching, Teh Yew Shyan and Ong Teck Liam to corruptly bribe agents of ST Marine’s customers in return for ship repair contracts between 2004 and 2010.
- THE National Environment Agency (NEA) on Tuesday said the Euro VI emission standard for new diesel vehicles will be implemented in Singapore from the start of 2018.This standard, as set by by the European Union (EU), imposes strict rules on tailpipe emission for new vehicles sold in EU member states, NEA said.”In NEA’s continued effort to further improve air quality and safeguard public health, this latest and more stringent standard will serve to further reduce the emission of air pollutants such as fine particulate matter and nitrogen oxides emission from diesel vehicles.”
The dollar lost ground versus the Japanese yen Tuesday, giving back recent gains as an upbeat year for the U.S. currency draws to a close.
Versus the yen, the dollar USDJPY, +0.16% traded at ¥119.56 from ¥120.69 late Monday in New York. The U.S. currency has climbed 13.6% against the Japanese currency this year.
The euro EURUSD, +0.01% meanwhile continued to plumb two-year lows versus the dollar, fetching $1.2155 in recent action, little changed from $1.2153 late on Monday. It has slumped 11.6% against the greenback this year.
The pound GBPUSD, +0.01% exchanged hands at $1.5555, compared with $1.5518 on Monday.
