Oil Market Update

Crude-oil futures fell about 3% in Asian trade Monday on strikes at U.S. refineries and sluggish manufacturing data from China.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for March delivery CLH5, -2.07%   traded at $46.95 a barrel, down $1.24 in the Globex electronic session. Nymex crude lost 9.4% last month and has been down for seven consecutive months.

Brent crude for March delivery LCOH5, -1.91%  fell $1.31, or 2.5%, to $51.60 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange.

SGX IForex Recommendations

TRADING TIPS :

USD/JPY hit 117.39 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 117.86, declining 0.38%. Apreliminary report earlier showed that Japanese industrial production rose 1.0% in December, confounding expectations for an increase of 1.3%, after a 0.5% fall the previous month.A separate report showed that household spending in Japan rose 0.4% last month, below expectations for a 0.3% gain, after a 0.4% uptick in November. Data also showed that Tokyo’s consumer price inflation advanced 2.3% this month, exceeding expectations for a 2.2% rise and after a 2.1% rise in December.Tokyo’s core consumer price inflation, which excludes fresh food, rose 2.2% in January, in line with expectations, after a 2.3% increase in December.

INTRADAY OUTLOOK

Support: 117.07

Resistance: 117.76

RECOMMENDATION:

1. Buy USD/JPY Above 117.78-TG: 117.98/118.28 SL 117.48

2. Sell USD/JPY Below 117.05-TG: 116.85/116.55 SL 117.35

INTRADAY OUTLOOK

Immediate Support: 1.1269

Immediate Resistance: 1.1340

RECOMMENDATION:

1. Buy EUR/USD Above -1.1342 TG: 1.1362/1.1392 SL 1.1312

2. Sell EUR/USD Below -1.1267 TG:1.1247/1.1217 SL 1.1297

SGX Comex Recommendations

INTERNATIONAL COMMODITY NEWS :
Gold rallied more than $20 on Friday, after data showed the U.S. economy grew less than expected in the fourth quarter.On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery jumped $23.30, or 1.86%, to settle at $1,279.20 a troy ounce by close of trade on Friday.Futures were likely to find support at $1,252.10, the low from January 29, and resistance at $1,300.20, the high from January 26.The Commerce Department said in a report that the economy expanded 2.6% in the final three months of 2014, below expectations for a 3.0% gain and slowing sharply from growth of 5.0% in the three months to September.The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade weighted basket of six major currencies, ended at 95.00 by late-Friday, down 0.01% for the day and 0.33% lower on the week

TRADING STRATEGY :
BUY GOLD ABOVE 1288 TARGET 1293 1299 SL 1282
SELL GOLD BELOW 1272 TARGET 1267 1261 SL 1279