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 April 17 to April 25.
- Improving U.S. shale oil production and a rise in the rig count triggered investor concerns over the possibility that the OPEC production cut deal may be impacted.
- Copper prices experienced a boost in investor speculation following the French election.
- U.S. cotton export expectations rose on the back of growing global demand, lifting prices.
- Be sure to read our previous week’s report to keep on track with market trends.
Weekly Market Wrap-up
Energy – Oil fell as U.S. shale oil production picked up, causing concerns that the new supplies could put pressure on OPEC cuts, while natural gas fell on warmer weather predictions.
- Oil – Crude oil dropped to $49.23 a barrel this week as U.S. drilling activity picked up and the rig count rose by 5 to 688.
- Natural Gas – Milder weather expectations caused natural gas prices to fall to $3.17 per million British thermal units.
- Coal – Coal continued to face difficulties with a report that jobs in alternative energy sources like solar will replace coal jobs in the U.S.
Metals – Trump’s infrastructure policies and positive revisions on import tariffs helped lift steel prices to $312.50 per metric ton.
- Precious Metals – Gold had been rising in anticipation of the French election results before falling once the results came in, with gold prices settling to $1,270.64 a troy ounce for the week.
- Other – Copper prices rose to $5,700 per metric ton on investor speculation following the French elections earlier this week.
Grains – A report that already-planted wheat crops are down this year from last year helped lift wheat prices on lower supply expectations.
- Corn and Soybeans – A report revealed that corn planting is lagging behind soybeans creating a tug-of-war scenario, which will likely impact both corn and soybean values.
Softs – U.S. cotton turned more bullish this week as exports are expected to grow as global demand rises.
If you are wondering which 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 April 25) | 52-Week Price Change |
---|---|---|---|---|
Copper | 2.17% | 07/17/17 | $2.59 | $2.021 - $2.822 |
U.S. Cotton | 2.12% | 07/17/17 | $78.50 | $60.27 - $80.42 |
U.S. Corn | 0.48% | 07/17/17 | $363.50 | $301 - $439.25 |
Copper was the best-performing commodity this week as investor speculation grew following the French elections. Meanwhile, both U.S. cotton and corn values rose on higher exports and competition from soybeans, respectively.
Weekly Commodity ETF Movers
For ETF investors, we tracked the top three biggest gainers and top three biggest losers for the past week. Not included are ETN’s, which behave differently than ETF’s, as well as leveraged ETF’s which may not be suitable for some investors. All ETF’s were taken into consideration regardless of YTD gains.
Make sure to browse through all commodity ETFs on ETFdb.com to learn more about them.
Top Three ETF Winners This Week:
ETF Ticker | ETF Name | Commodity Category | Assets ($ million) | NAV (as of April 25) | Return (weekly %) | Return (YTD %) | Expense Ratio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PALL | ETFS Physical Palladium Shares ETF | Palladium | $195.99 | $76.45 | 1.16% | 17.24% | 0.60% |
SOYB | The Teucrium Soybean Fund | Soybeans | $11.80 | $18.28 | 0.27% | -4.29% | 3.49% |
GYEN | Gartman Gold/Yen ETF | Gold/Yen | $16.01 | $11.22 | 0.09% | 4.76% | 0.80% |
Palladium and gold were this week’s best commodity-ETF performers as investors flocked to safe-haven assets. A soybean ETF also posted positive results after last week’s bullish planting news. Interestingly, commodity ETFs, in general, didn’t experience much positive movement with the highest performer only gaining 1.16%.
Check out the complete list of precious metal ETFs on ETFdb.com.
Top Three ETF Losers This Week:
ETF Ticker | ETF Name | Commodity Category | Assets ($ million) | NAV (as of April 25) | Return (weekly %) | Return (YTD %) | Expense Ratio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
USO | United States Oil Fund | Oil | $2,554.30 | $10.25 | -7.32% | -12.54% | 0.45% |
OILK | ProShares K1 Free Crude Oil Strategy ETF | Crude Oil | $2.95 | $19.53 | -7.04% | -12.81% | 0.65% |
BNO | United States Brent Oil Fund | Brent Oil | $96.38 | $13.97 | -6.80% | -10.91% | 0.90% |
Oil in both crude and brent forms rounded out this week’s worst commodity-ETF performers. Reports of improving U.S. shale oil production caused a retraction in values, while investors mulled over possible repercussions from the OPEC deal.
Click here to read more on how brent and crude oil 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.