SGX Comex Recommendations

INTERNATIONAL COMMODITY NEWS :
Gold prices gained in Asia on Wednesday as investors focused on Chinese New Year demand and continued a buying trend seen overnight in the U.S.On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery rose 0.13% to trade at $1,261.90 a troy ounce. Overnight, gold edged higher on Tuesday, as market players looked ahead to the release of key U.S. data later in the week for further indications on the strength of the economy and the future path of monetary policy.Optimism over the health of the U.S. economy weakened after data on Monday showed that U.S. consumer spending fell at the fastest rate since September 2009 in December.Separate reports showed that U.S. construction spending rose less than expected in December, while manufacturing growth slowed. The disappointing numbers came after data last week that showed the U.S. economy grew by a weaker than-expected 2.6% in the fourth quarter, slowing sharply from growth of 5.0% in the preceding quarter.

TRADING STRATEGY :
BUY GOLD ABOVE 1268 TARGET 1273 1279 SL 1262
SELL GOLD BELOW 1255 TARGET 1250 1244 SL 1261

SGX Stock Recommendations

MARKET UPDATES :

• SINGAPORE shares ended lower on Tuesday with the Straits Times Index slipping 15.33 points to 3,408.02. Some 1.25 billion shares, valued at S$1.23 billion were traded. Gainers numbered 210 while losers numbered 226.

• DBS Bank has been named the most valuable bank brand in Asean for the second consecutive year.The Brand Finance Banking 500 report released on Monday also showed that the bank had increased its brand value over the year by 10 per cent to $4.4 billion, and doubled it in the past five years.

• CNA Group on Tuesday announced a proposed placement of some 119 million new shares priced at S$0.0335 each that could raise up to S$3.79 million in net proceeds.These, said the mainboard-listed company, will be used for general working capital, investments and selected acquisitions in China.

• SAKAE Holdings on Tuesday said that given the group’s progress in its corporate advisory business, it is now focused on establishing an asset management business and exploring starting a S$250 million “opportunistic fund” to invest in both public and private opportunities.

• SIA Engineering Co (SIAEC) reported a net profit of S$46.3 million for the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2014, down from S$60.5 million in the corresponding quarter a year earlier.Revenue fell from S$283.8 million to S$265.3 million, while earnings per share came to 4.13 Singapore cents, versus 5.43 cents previously. SIAEC said that revenue from airframe and component overhaul declined as work content was lower with fewer heavy checks.

Forex Market Update

The U.S. dollar slumped versus major rivals Tuesday, as worries about Greece’s debt woes eased.

The ICE dollar index DXY, -0.06% a measure of the U.S. unit against a basket of six major rivals,  fell 0.9% to 93.685.

The euro EURUSD, -0.10%  rose to $1.1468, up from $1.1341 on Monday, on signs the standoff between the new Greek government and its creditors could soon come to an end.

Meanwhile, the pound GBPUSD, -0.01%  climbed to $1.5151, up from $1.5039 on Monday.

The Aussie AUDUSD, +0.39%  traded at 77.66 U.S. cents, down from 78.03 cents on Monday, but rebounding off a low of 76.25 cents. Against the yen AUDJPY, +0.53% it traded at ¥91.29, compared with ¥91.70 late Monday.