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 week ranging Feb.1 to Feb.7.
- Oil was down this week on increased U.S. oil drilling activity while natural gas prices sunk even lower on a lack of cold weather.
- Gold made a comeback this week on rising political concerns and uncertainty about the direction of the stock market.
- Sugar was the best-performing commodity for the week thanks to increased investment activity following a report of higher Indian demand.
- Be sure to check our previous week’s report to keep in touch with the changing trends in the commodity market.
Weekly Market Wrap-Up
Energy – Oil prices continued to be pressured by growing U.S. oil production; an absence of cold weather further pushed down natural gas prices.
- Oil – Oil prices ended the week at $52.91 per barrel as markets focused on rising U.S. oil drilling activity. Check out some of our actionable ideas to trade in crude oil.
- Natural Gas – A noticeable lack of cold weather led natural gas prices down to a 10-week low of $3.008 per million British thermal units for March delivery.
- Coal – Coal continues to be a hot political issue with a resolution on the table to remove earthen mining waste disposal restrictions in the hopes that it will help the coal industry regain its footing.
Metals – Aluminum prices soared to a high of $1,808.45 per metric ton with big question marks about China and the state of future foreign trade.
- Precious Metals – Gold rebounded this week to a session high of $1,232.20 per troy ounce, the highest since November, on investor concerns surrounding the U.S. political climate. Check out our precious metals heatmap to know the winners and losers on a daily basis.
- Other – Copper fell to $2.63 per ounce on falling investor sentiment that the Trump administration will revitalize the U.S. manufacturing sector and news about a Chilean mine strike at BHP Billiton.
Grains – Wheat prices came under pressure as growing global supply put a damper on investment activity in the agricultural commodity.
- Corn and Soybeans – Soybeans gained on higher Chinese demand to $10.38 a bushel. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported higher-than-expected weekly soybean export inspections.
Softs – Sugar hit a two and a half month high to $21.4 cents per pound on Friday on buying activity stemming from Indian demand.
If you want to know what commodity is right for you, check out our Commodity Investing Database.
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.
| Commodity | Weekly Gain (%) | Contract Expiration | Contract Price (as of Feb. 6) | 52-Week Price Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London Sugar | 2.56% | 03/17/17 | $553.80 | $367.2 - $619 |
| Gold | 2.18% | 04/17/17 | $1,236.15 | $1,123.9 - $1,376.4 |
| Heating Oil | 1.62% | 03/17/17 | $1.64 | $0.961 - $1.7647 |
Sugar topped the list of this week’s highest-performing commodities as Indian demand supported increased investment activity. Investor jitters about the political state of the U.S. sent gold higher as well while strong export demand for propane sent heating oil prices up.
Weekly Commodity ETF Movers
For ETF investors, we tracked the top three biggest gainers and top three biggest losers for the past week. Not included are ETNs, which behave differently than ETFs, as well as leveraged ETFs which may not be suitable for some investors. Considering the limited data for the year, all ETFs were taken into consideration regardless of YTD gains.
Get a complete list of top agriculture ETFs and gold ETFs on ETFdb.com to know how they performed this week. You can also use ETFdb.com’s Screener to see a complete list of commodity ETFs.
Top Three ETF Winners This Week:
| ETF Ticker | ETF Name | Commodity Category | Assets ($ million) | NAV (as of Feb. 6) | Return (Weekly %) | Return (YTD %) | Expense Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CANE | The Teucrium Sugar Fund | Sugar | $5.51 | $14.20 | 2.90% | 9.23% | 1.76% |
| IAU | iShares Gold Trust ETF | Gold | $7,309.80 | $11.74 | 2.44% | 5.96% | 0.25% |
| UHN | United States Diesel Heating Oil Fund | Heating oil | $6.74 | $16.10 | 2.42% | -4.05% | 0.60% |
Interestingly, while CANE is up 9.23% YTD, the high expense ratio of 1.76% effectively reduces it to 7.47%. In contrast, IAU has a low expense ratio of just 0.25%, giving investors the majority of gains in the ETF posts.
Top Three ETF Losers This Week:
| ETF Ticker | ETF Name | Commodity Category | Assets ($ Million) | NAV (as of Feb. 6) | Return (Weekly %) | Return (YTD %) | Expense Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNG | United States Natural Gas Fund | Natural gas | $532.93 | $7.67 | -9.12% | -17.88% | 0.60% |
| UNL | United States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund | Natural gas | $16.44 | $10.60 | -6.28% | -9.32% | 0.75% |
| CPER | United States Copper Index Fund | Copper | $5.72 | $17.14 | -2.72% | 4.83% | 0.65% |
Natural gas once again finds itself on our list of the worst-performing ETFs as warm weather drove natural gas prices down to 10-week lows. Meanwhile copper fell as investors grew nervous about the economy and news of a mine strike in Chile.
Get a complete list of natural gas ETFs on ETFdb.com to see how they performed this week.
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.
