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 23rd to May 30th.
Crude oil prices fell below $69 per barrel this week after a report showing a higher than expected rise in supply data.
Gold prices held flat this week as treasury yields and the value of the U.S. dollar began to diverge.
Cotton prices nearing the end of the season jumped this week on higher global demand.
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 – Oil prices fell sharply this week on an unexpected rise in inventories while natural gas prices slipped on milder weather expectations.
Oil – An unexpected rise in U.S. supply inventories took oil prices lower this week with crude oil trading down to $68.16 per barrel.
Natural Gas – Natural gas prices slipped this week on milder weather expectations with natural gas prices falling to $2.876 per million British thermal units (btu).
Gasoline – Gasoline prices stayed stubbornly high this week, ticking up slightly to $2.96 throughout the holiday weekend.
Metals – Platinum prices rose this week to $911.00 per ounce on higher demand for safe-haven assets and a higher demand for automobiles.
Precious Metals – Gold prices held flat this week at $1,304.00 per troy ounce as the U.S. dollar and treasury yields diverged.
Other – A drop in the value of the U.S. dollar helped stabilize copper prices this week, which were trading at $3.08.
Grains – U.S. wheat prices fell this week amidst strong profit-taking activity with prices falling to $5.22 per bushel.
Corn and Soybeans – Both corn and soybean prices rose slightly this week as rains delayed planting across the country.
Softs – Strong demand for cotton helped lift prices this week to $92.64 per bushel.
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 30th)52 week price changeU.S. Cotton6.00%07/18/18$92.64$66.1 – $96.3Platinum0.09%07/18/18$911.00$872.6 – $1,033.3Gold0.00%06/18/18$1,304.00$1,208.7 – $1,365.4
It wasn’t a great week for commodity performance with only two commodities actually posting any kind of gain at all while gold managed to take the number three spot, holding completely flat. Cotton was the strongest performer this week, led by higher demand, while platinum rose as investors turned toward alternative safe haven assets.
Weekly Commodity ETF Movers
For ETF investors, we tracked the top three biggest gainers and top three biggest losers for the past week. Not included are ETN’s, which behave differently than ETF’s, as well as leveraged ETF’s which may not be suitable for some investors. Some ETF’s that have less than one year on the market have been excluded due to lack of long-term data.
Top Three ETF Winners This Week
ETF tickerETF nameCommodity categoryAssets ($MM)NAV (as of May 30th)Return (weekly %)Return (YTD %)Expense ratioUSAGUnited States Agriculture Index FundAgriculture$1.79$17.753.50%7.51%0.80%TAGSTeucrium Agricultural FundAgriculture$1.74$22.942.09%3.80%1.00%DBBPowerShares DB Base Metals FundMetals$344.22$18.780.86%-3.25%0.75%
This week’s list of best performing commodity-based ETFs were largely agricultural funds as cotton outperformed the most on higher demand. A broad metals fund rose as well, helped along by a jump in platinum values.
Top Three ETF Losers This Week
ETF tickerETF nameCommodity categoryAssets ($MM)NAV (as of May 30th)Return (weekly %)Return (YTD %)Expense ratioUSOUnited States Oil FundOil$1,878.23$13.83-4.69%15.15%0.77%USLUnited States 12 Month Oil FundOil$83.33$24.26-4.64%15.97%0.86%DBOPowerShares DB Oil FundOil$379.18$12.07-4.28%18.92%0.75%
This week’s list of worst-performing commodity-based ETFs was all oil-related as an unexpected rise in U.S. oil inventories impacted oil prices heavily. Rising production from the U.S. and Russia also weighed heavily on prices.
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.