CommodityHQ.com provides weekly information about any material impact of a major economic, corporate and/or geopolitical event on the global commodities market. The report also analyzes the weekly change in prices of the major commodity futures and commodity focused ETFs as a result of market changing events and trends. This report covers events and analysis for the weeks ranging June 13th to June 20th.
Crude oil prices rose higher toward the end of the week on higher-than-expected draws in oil supplies.
Gold prices fell this week below $1,300 an ounce on surging equity values and a more stable U.S. dollar.
Platinum prices hit a two-and-a-half-year low this week on the back of increasing trade tensions.
Be sure to read our previous edition to keep in touch with the changing trends in the global commodities space.
Weekly Market Wrap-up
Energy – Crude and Brent oil prices jumped this week after a larger-than-expected draw in U.S. oil supplies, while natural gas prices traded flat for the week ahead of warmer weather expectations.
Oil – An unexpected large draw in U.S. crude oil supplies helped boost crude oil prices to $65.86 a barrel.
Natural Gas – Natural gas prices traded sideways this week at $2.96 per million British thermal units but could move higher on warmer weather.
Gasoline – The average price for a gallon of gas dropped to $2.88 this week, but there are signals of the price rising again as demand heats up.
Metals – Copper prices dropped this week as concerns over a broader trade war between the U.S. and China drove broad selling activity.
Precious Metals – Gold prices plummeted to $1,275.90 a troy ounce this week nearing a 2018 low as equities advanced and the dollar showed resilience.
Other – Trade tensions hurt platinum prices this week, which traded at a two-and-a-half-year low of $875.30.
Grains – U.S. wheat prices fell sharply this week on Chinese tariffs and broad technical selling activity in the markets.
Corn and Soybeans – Corn and soybean prices dropped this week on renewed trade war fears stemming from China.
Softs – U.S. coffee prices fell this week triggered mainly by technical selling activity.
If you want to know what commodity is right for you, check out our Commodity Investing Database.
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Weekly Movement Across Commodity Futures
For this week, we analyzed all commodities by weekly performance and listed the top three performers by weekly percentage gain. All commodities were taken into account and analyzed from a performance perspective only to find the top three.
CommodityWeekly Gain (%)Contract ExpirationContract Price (as of June 20)52-Week Price ChangeNatural Gas-0.03%07/18/18$2.96$2.53-$3.66US Coffee-0.11%09/18/18$116.22$112.45-$143.75Crude Oil WTI-1.38%08/18/18$65.28$42.05-$72.83
This week wasn’t kind to commodities with the best performer, natural gas, actually falling fractionally. U.S. coffee prices and crude oil were also on the list, although neither managed to eke out positive gains. Oil prices turned sharply higher after falling earlier in the week.
Weekly Commodity ETF Movers
For ETF investors, we tracked the top three biggest gainers and top three biggest losers for the past week. Not included are ETN’s, which behave differently than ETF’s, as well as leveraged ETF’s which may not be suitable for some investors. Some ETF’s that have less than one year on the market have been excluded due to lack of long-term data.
Top Three ETF Winners This Week
ETF TickerETF NameCommodity CategoryAssets ($MM)NAV (as of June 20)Return (weekly %)Return (YTD %)Expense RatioUNLUnited States 12 Month Natural Gas FundNatural Gas$6.13$9.43-0.32%2.72%0.90%UNGUnited States Natural Gas FundNatural Gas$376.32$23.65-0.59%1.42%1.30%BNOUnited States Brent Oil FundBrent Oil$99.38$20.93-0.90%15.64%0.90%
This week’s list of best-performing commodity-based ETFs were led mostly by natural gas funds, although like most of the other commodities, none of them registered any positive gains this week. A Brent oil fund rounded out the list.
Top Three ETF Losers This Week
ETF TickerETF NameCommodity CategoryAssets ($MM)NAV (as of June 20)Return (weekly %)Return (YTD %)Expense RatioWEATTeucrium WheatWheat$66.36$6.31-9.99%5.17%1.00%CPERUnited States Copper Index FundCopper$11.63$19.35-6.02%-8.12%0.80%SOYBTeucrium SoybeanSoybeans$15.49$16.75-5.90%-6.32%1.00%
This week’s list of worst-performing commodity-based ETFs were mainly agricultural funds with wheat and soybeans falling on technical selling activity, while a copper fund dropped as trade tensions between the U.S. and China rose.
We provide this report on a weekly basis. Be sure to check out our News section to remain updated on the latest happenings in the commodity space.