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.
TRADING STRATEGY :
BUY GOLD ABOVE 1188.5 TARGET 1193.5 1199.5 SL 1182.5
SELL GOLD BELOW 1179.5 TARGET 1174.5 1168.5 SL 1185.5
MARKET UPDATES :
- SINGAPORE’S economy grew 2.8 per cent in 2014, but the “moderately well” performance was dimmed by a “disappointing” minus 0.5 per cent productivity growth in the first three quarters of the year.Unveiling these numbers in his New Year Message, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also said that real median incomes continued to rise, leading to a 10 per cent jump over the last five years. Productivity has been weak for the third year in a row, according to Mr Lee who said that Singapore must redouble its efforts to help companies and workers upgrade to become more productive.
- THE Singapore operations of food chain Jones the Grocer, which has gone bust in Australia where it originates, have not been hit by the restructuring Down Under, a senior executive of its majority shareholder L Capital Asia on Wednesday told The Business Times.”The Singapore business will be fine,” said chairman and managing partner Ravi Thakran at L Capital Asia, the private equity arm of luxury conglomerate LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton. “The prognosis is good.”
- KEPPEL Corporation’s subsidiary, Keppel Shipyard, has secured its second floating liquefaction (FLNG) vessel conversion contract worth approximately US$705 million, from Norway’s Golar LNG.Under this agreement, Keppel will again convert an LNG carrier into an FLNG vessel for Golar, and will similarly engage engineering firm Black & Veatch (B&V) to provide design, procurement and commissioning support services for the topsides of the FLNG, and leverage B&V’s technology for the liquefaction process.
- YING Li International Real Estate on Wednesday said it would expand into other first-tier cities outside of Chongqing, China, for the first time, with its investment in the Beijing Tongzhou Project with China Everbright Limited.This will be done by investing 559 million yuan (S$119 million) in Shanghai Zhao Li Investment Centre LLP that would give it a “limited partnership interest”. The centre would then effectively invest in the project. Ying Li did not give a clear breakdown of its eventual stake in the Beijing Tongzhou Project, but said the group will partner with China Everbright and other joint investors to invest 7.2 billion yuan in total in the project.
Singapore's economy grew at a slower-than-expected pace in the fourth quarter, as the manufacturing sector weighed on the overall output.
Gross domestic product for the three months to Dec. 31 grew 1.6% on a seasonally adjusted and annualized basis compared with a revised 3.1% increase in the third quarter, according to advance estimates on Friday by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Four economists in a Dow Jones Newswires poll had tipped fourth-quarter GDP to expand 3.3% on quarter. The government statement said the economy is estimated to have expanded 1.5% on year compared with a median 2.0% increase tipped by five economists. GDP rose a revised 2.8% on year in the third quarter.
Manufacturing output fell 2.0% on year in the fourth quarter compared with a 1.7% expansion the previous quarter. Services output grew 2.6% on year while the construction sector expanded 0.8%, the data showed.
GDP grew 2.8% in 2014, in line with the government estimate of around 3.0%.
