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 20 to March 27.
- Cooler weather helped lift natural gas prices to a six-week high while improving rig counts and higher oil production in the U.S. curbed crude oil gains this week.
- The failed U.S. healthcare bill had investors scrambling for safe haven assets, helping lift gold and silver prices.
- Inflation-based commodity investments tapered off this week as hedge funds held off on agricultural bets.
- Check out our previous week’s article to follow the market trends.
Weekly Market Wrap-up
Energy – U.S. oil production continues to climb and hurt prices while natural gas rose again on colder weather and rising demand for heating oil.
- Oil – A rising U.S. oil rig count to the highest level since September 2015 and increased drilling activity dragged crude oil prices down this week to $47.86 per barrel. Be sure to know about key actionable ideas to invest in oil.
- Natural Gas – Cooler weather helped lift natural gas prices to a six-week high of around $3.19 per million British thermal units.
- Coal – A recent announcement this week revealed that wind energy is now at cost with coal energy, making the alternative energy producer more competitive and causing further headwinds for the coal industry. Read here to know more about the difficult scenario for the coal industry.
Metals – Copper prices hit a two-week low to $2.63 per ounce, following the U.S. healthcare bill fallout combined with strikes at Indonesian mines.
- Precious Metals – Gold hit a four-week high to $1,254.25 after the U.S. healthcare bill failed on the table and investors began to have doubts about Trump’s ability to keep the economy healthy and growing.
- Other – Aluminum hit a two-year high just shy of $1,950 per metric ton this week as investors prepare for China’s anti-pollution cuts scheduled for next winter.
Grains – Doubts about rising inflation under Trump caused hedge funds to pare back their agricultural investments, hurting grain prices for the week.
- Corn and Soybeans – Global corn estimates were pared this week, causing corn prices to tumble to its lowest value since December 2016.
Softs – Technical selling patterns dragged London sugar prices lower for the week to $17.32 cents per pound. Moreover, previous Indian demand temporarily came to a halt.
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 Mar 27th) | 52-Week Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | 3.89% | 05/17/17 | $18.12 | $14.785 - $21.207 |
| Natural Gas | 2.40% | 05/17/17 | $3.11 | $1.766 - $3.994 |
| Gold | 1.63% | 04/17/17 | $1,254.25 | $1,123.9 - $1,376.4 |
Precious metals led the way for top performers this week with both silver and gold on the top three list as the failed healthcare bill led investors to these safe haven assets. Natural gas found its way into the number two spot this week, benefiting from the cooler weather.
Weekly Commodity ETF Movers
For ETF investors, we tracked the top three biggest gainers and top three biggest losers for the past week. Not included are ETN’s, which behave differently than ETF’s, as well as leveraged ETF’s which may not be suitable for some investors. Considering the limited data for the year, all ETF’s were taken into consideration regardless of YTD gains.
Check out all the available commodity-based ETFs on ETFdb.com.
Top Three ETF Winners This Week:
| ETF Ticker | ETF Name | Commodity Category | Assets ($ million) | NAV (as of Mar 27th) | Return (Weekly %) | Return (YTD %) | Expense Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNG | United States Natural Gas Fund | Natural gas | 444.06 | $7.48 | 5.06% | -19.91% | 0.60% |
| UNL | United States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund | Natural gas | 11.61 | $10.56 | 4.24% | -9.67% | 0.75% |
| PALL | ETFS Physical Palladium Shares ETF | Palladium | 203.76 | $77.49 | 4.04% | 18.83% | 0.60% |
Natural gas ETFs were among the week’s best performers as cooler weather helped lift prices. Palladium also gained as U.S. manufacturing heats up.
Know more about natural gas ETFs on ETFdb.com.
Top Three ETF Losers This Week:
| ETF Ticker | ETF Name | Commodity Category | Assets ($ million) | NAV (as of Mar 27th) | Return (Weekly %) | Return (YTD %) | Expense Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CANE | The Teucrium Sugar Fund | Sugar | 4.58 | $12.21 | -3.33% | -6.08% | 1.76% |
| TAGS | The Teucrium Agricultural Fund | Agricultural | 1.29 | $24.77 | -3.17% | -3.54% | 0.49% |
| CORN | The Teucrium Corn Fund | Corn | 67.57 | $18.61 | -2.87% | -0.53% | 2.92% |
All three of the worst ETF commodity performers were in the agricultural space this week with broad-based apathy stemming from a sudden lack of institutional investments. Commodities that had been bought with the expectation of higher inflation are now on hold as investors reassess market conditions.
Check out on ETFdb.com how agriculture ETFs performed over the 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.
