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 March 14 to March 20.
- Majority of commodities were up for the week, with platinum, U.S. coffee, and silver leading the way.
- With interest rates rising 0.25% this week, gold increased by 2.67% for the week.
- Be sure to check our previous week’s report to become familiar with commodity market trends.
Weekly Market Wrap-up
Energy – After the big pullback in energy prices last week, the majority of energy commodities were up for the week.
- Oil – After last week’s considerable 8% decline, oil slightly rebounded and was up 1.16% for the week to $48.94 a barrel. Check out our take on key actionable ideas to invest in crude oil.
- Natural Gas – U.S. natural gas had another solid increase and was up 1.05% to around $3.07-per-million British thermal units as colder weather continued to drive up demand.
- Coal –Two coal-fired power plants in Ohio announced they will be closing by June 2018, continuing the downward trend of the coal industry.
Metals – Like most of the commodity market, both silver and platinum saw an increase of 2.75% and 3.56%, respectively, for the week.
- Precious Metals – Gold increased 2.67% for the week and ended at $1,234.15 per troy ounce as investors worried about inflation concerns over the recent rate hike.
- Other – This week’s best performer was platinum, up 3.56% for the week to $972.05 per pound. Silver also had a large gain and was up 2.75% for the week.
Grains – U.S. wheat remained flat after last week’s decline, with cold weather continuing to affect production.
- Corn and Soybeans – Corn saw an increase of 2.61%, while soybeans saw a 5.96% decline for the week.
Softs – Cotton also had a slight increase for the week by 0.70% and remains one of the best year-to-date commodity performers, up by 9.46%.
If you are wondering which commodity might be 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 March 13) | 52-Week Price Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platinum | 3.56% | 4/26/2017 | $972.05 | $1,199.45 -$889.55 |
| U.S. Coffee | 3.22% | 5/17/2017 | $145.02 | $176.00 - $118.70 |
| Silver | 2.75% | 5/17/2017 | $17.44 | $21.20 - $14.78 |
Precious metals were the best-performing area of the commodities sector, with platinum and silver leading the pack.
Weekly Commodity ETF Movers
For ETF investors, we tracked the top three biggest gainers and top three biggest losers for the past week. Not included are ETN’s, which behave differently than ETF’s, as well as leveraged ETF’s which may not be suitable for some investors. Considering the limited data for the year, all ETF’s were taken into consideration regardless of YTD gains.
Be sure to check the complete list of commodity ETFs on ETFdb.com.
Top Three ETF Winners This Week:
| ETF Ticker | ETF Name | Commodity Category | Return (Weekly %) | Assets ($ Million) | NAV (as of March 20) | Return (YTD %) | Expense Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States Copper Index Fund | Copper | 3.78% | $14.00 | $17.57 | 7.58% | 0.65% | |
| PowerShares DB Base Metals Fund | Industrial Metals | 3.70% | $291.40 | $16.57 | 10.79% | 0.75% | |
| PowerShares DB Silver Fund | Silver | 2.11% | $27.00 | $27.06 | 8.77% | 0.79% |
With copper and other industrial metals up the most for the week, the United States Copper Index Fund (CPER) was this week’s best-performing ETF.
See how copper ETFs and silver ETFs performed this week on ETFdb.com.
Top Three ETF Losers This Week:
| ETF Ticker | ETF Name | Commodity Category | Return (Weekly %) | Assets ($ Million) | NAV (as of March 20) | Return (YTD %) | Expense Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNG | United StatesNatural Gas Fund | Natural Gas | -3.13% | $423.00 | $7.21 | -23.77% | 0.60% |
| UNL | United States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund | Natural Gas | -2.60% | $11.10 | $10.30 | -13.34% | 0.75% |
| TAGS | The Teucrium Agricultural Fund | Agriculture | -2.03% | $1.30 | $25.58 | -0.39% | 0.49% |
With natural gas having a poor start to the week, natural gas ETFs were negatively affected this week.
Be sure to check how natural gas ETFs and agriculture ETFs performed this week on ETFdb.com.
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.
