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 May 16th to May 23rd.
An unexpected jump in crude oil inventories dragged oil prices lower this week.
Natural gas prices rose higher this week as warmer weather forecasts sparked a bullish reversal.
Dry weather conditions and bullish speculation helped U.S. wheat prices rise higher for the week.
Be sure to read our previous edition to be aware of events in the global commodities space.
Weekly Market Wrap-up
Energy – Oil price fell this week after an unexpected rise in crude oil inventory data, while natural gas prices rose ahead of warmer weather expectations.
Oil – An unexpected rise in U.S. crude oil supplies caused oil prices to dip slightly this week with crude oil trading at $71.84 a barrel.
Natural Gas – Forecasts for warmer weather helped lift natural gas prices this week to $2.94 per million British thermal units.
Gasoline – The average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. jumped again this week to $2.96, marking the highest gain ahead of the Memorial Day weekend since since 2014.
Metals – A higher U.S. dollar dragged copper prices lower this week with copper trading at $3.08.
Precious Metals – A high U.S. dollar was offset by increased geopolitical tension this week helping stabilize gold prices at $1,291.10 a troy ounce.
Other – Aluminum prices rose slightly this week on higher demand stemming from China.
Grains – U.S. wheat prices jumped higher this week on reports of dry weather and strong technical buying activity.
Corn and Soybeans – Strong Chinese demand helped corn and soybean prices head higher for the week.
Softs – Healthy Chinese demand and bullish weather conditions helped U.S. coffee prices rise this week.
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 May 23)52-Week Price ChangeU.S. Wheat7.21%07/18/18$531.50$400.75-$574.25U.S. Coffee5.49%07/18/18$119.47$112.45-$143.75Natural Gas3.77%06/18/18$2.92$2.53-$3.66
This week’s top-performing commodities were largely agricultural with U.S. wheat outperforming on dry weather conditions and bullish speculation. U.S. coffee rose on higher Chinese demand, while natural gas prices rose on warmer weather forecasts.
Weekly Commodity ETF Movers
For ETF investors, we tracked the top three biggest gainers and top three biggest losers for the past week. Not included are ETN’s, which behave differently than ETF’s, as well as leveraged ETF’s which may not be suitable for some investors. Some ETF’s that have less than one year on the market have been excluded due to lack of long term data.
Top Three ETF Winners This Week
ETF TickerETF NameCommodity CategoryAssets ($MM)NAV (as of May 23)Return (weekly %)Return (YTD %)Expense RatioWEATTeucrium WheatWheat$69.72$6.844.75%14.00%1.00%USAGUnited States Agriculture Index FundAgriculture$1.77$17.153.66%3.88%0.80%CANETeucrium SugarSugar$15.41$7.803.59%-20.25%1.00%
This week’s top-performing commodity-based ETFs were agricultural related with a wheat fund taking the top spot as dry weather conditions and investor demand drove prices higher. A broad agriculture fund rose for similar reasons, while a sugar fund gained on higher Chinese demand.
Top Three ETF Losers This Week
ETF TickerETF NameCommodity CategoryAssets ($MM)NAV (as of May 23)Return (weekly %)Return (YTD %)Expense RatioDBBPowerShares DB Base Metals FundMetals$345.30$18.67-0.59%-3.81%0.75%GLDSPDR Gold TrustGold$35,284.69$122.41-0.06%-1.00%0.40%SGOLETFS Physical Swiss Gold SharesGold/Currency$1,139.44$124.90-0.06%-0.98%0.39%
This week’s worst-performing commodity-based ETFs were mostly metals with a broad metals fund dropping the most on a higher U.S. dollar. A gold fund and Swiss/gold ETF dropped for similar reasons as geopolitical tensions rose.
We provide this report on a weekly basis. Be sure to check our News section to remain updated on the latest happenings in the commodity space.