I. Precious Metals
Gold

Gold steadied on Monday as the dollar hovered near three-year lows, but bullishness in the wider financial markets as the U.S. government shutdown ended capped the metal's gains.

Legislation to renew government funding easily cleared a procedural hurdle in the Senate and was expected to pass both the Senate and House of Representatives, allowing government to reopen through Feb 8. The dollar pared losses against a basket of currencies and U.S. stocks surged in afternoon trading after senators reached the deal.

Spot gold edged up 0.05 percent at $1,332.13 per ounce. U.S. gold futures for February delivery settled down $1.20, or 0.1 percent, at $1,331.90 per ounce. The precious metal fell 0.5 percent last week, its first weekly decline in six weeks, after hitting four-month highs last Monday.

The dollar steadied as U.S. Treasury yields rose as investors saw limited economic fallout from the political standoff. Most people were looking at the U.S. government shutdown.

Historically you don’t really get much market reaction to this, in addition that the dollar index has retreated to a historic trough after a three-month decline. Investors with net long positions are recommended to cash in profits as it’s too risky to hold long positions at current level.

Silver

Silver fell 0.2 percent at $16.97 per ounce. On technical front, silver was traded more volatile after a 14-session consolidation. The trend will extend after trapping in the narrow range of $16.9 to $17.5. Investors are recommended to cut their positions to evade risks if the white metal breached below the 100-day moving average of $16.92.

II. Commodities
Crude Oil

Oil settled higher on Monday after dollar fluctuations and the restart of some Libyan oil fields caused the market to vacillate, with prices testing lower before rallying to levels just below three-year highs.

Brent crude futures for March delivery settled up 42 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $69.03 a barrel, after earlier rallying to $69.51. U.S. crude rose 25 cents, or 0.4 percent, to close at $63.62 a barrel.

Supportive to the market were comments from top exporter Saudi Arabia that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers would continue to cooperate on oil output cuts beyond 2018. The deal began in January 2017.

Crude prices are expected to linger at highs on signs of a downturn in the 5-day moving average.

Copper

Copper rose on Monday, leading broad gains across base metals as optimism over the outlook for global growth and supply concerns helped prices recover some of the previous session's losses.

After a half-percent drop on Friday, copper prices bounced back nearly 1 percent, while tin climbed to another three-month high at $20,800 a tonne. London Metal Exchange copper closed up 0.4 percent at $7,068 a tonne, reversing losses from the previous session. Prices last week edged down to $7,027, with the $7,000 level as yet unbroken this year.

The International Monetary Fund on Monday revised up its forecast for world economic growth in 2018 and 2019 saying that sweeping U.S. tax cuts were expected to boost investment in the world's largest economy and help its main trading partners.

Copper’s growth is expected to remain on track on the news and lingering concern over supply.

Soybean

U.S. soybean futures climbed for a sixth straight session to a five-week high on Monday, extending in buying fueled by steep gains in soymeal as dry weather in Argentina threatened to cut yields, traders said.

CBOT soymeal surged around 2 percent, while CBOT soyoil slipped around 5 percent. CBOT March soybean futures settled up 7 cents at $9.84-1/4 per bushel while CBOT March soymeal was up $7 to $338.60 per ton. CBOT soyoil ended down 12 cents to 32.16 per pound.

Weeks of dry weather and extended forecasts for only light precipitation in Argentina, the top global exporter of soymeal and soyoil, continued to buoy prices. A weather consultant for the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said the pattern likely will result in yield losses.

Dealing Room, ICBC Beijing Branch
                        Huang Han