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 May 15 to May 22.
- Majority of commodities were up for the week, with heating oil and WTI crude oil leading the pack.
- With the expectation of an interest rate rise in June, the price of gold pulled back.
- Agriculture was the worst performer for the week, with U.S. coffee declining by 4.55%.
- Be sure to read our previous week’s report to become familiar with commodity market trends.
Weekly Market Wrap-up
Energy – Oil soared this week on the Energy Information Administration’s announcement that U.S. crude oil refineries averaged 17.3 million barrels per day, which is 159,000 more than last week’s average.
- Oil – Before the OPEC meeting on May 25, oil experienced a large gain for the week and increased by 5.09% to $51.57 a barrel. The rally could continue, given a favorable decision on production cuts. Read our take on key actionable ideas to invest in crude oil.
- Natural Gas – U.S. natural gas also had a solid week, up 3.16% to $3.29-per-million British thermal units. This comes after the most recent U.S. weather model called for cooler temperatures through to the end of the month, which should increase demand.
Metals – The metals performed fairly well this week, with silver as the top gainer.
- Precious Metals – Gold saw a slight decline of 0.12% for the week and ended at $1,257.17 per troy ounce, as investors seem to be worried that the Fed will raise rates in June.
- Other – Silver was the best-performing metal, up 1.57% for the week. Platinum was also up 0.30% for the week to $950.45 per pound.
Grains – U.S. wheat remained flat after last week’s decline, with cold weather continuing to affect production.
- Corn and Soybeans – Corn saw a moderate decline of 0.07%, while soybeans saw a 1.88% decline for the week.
Softs – Cotton was the second-worst performer of the commodity sector, down 3.55%. However, it remains one of the best year-to-date commodity performers, up by 9.56%.
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 May 24) | 52-Week Price Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heating Oil | 5.28% | 6/17/2017 | $1.61 | $1.76 -$1.24 |
| WTI Crude Oil | 5.09% | 7/17/2017 | $51.57 | $55.24 - $39.19 |
| Natural Gas | 3.16% | 7/17/2017 | $3.29 | $3.99 - $1.90 |
Energy was the best-performing area of the commodities sector, with heating oil and WTI crude oil leading the pack.
Weekly Commodity ETF Movers
For ETF investors, we tracked the top three biggest gainers and top three biggest losers for the past week. Not included are ETNs, which behave differently than ETFs, as well as leveraged ETFs, which may not be suitable for some investors. Some ETFs that have less than one year on the market have been excluded due to the lack of long-term data.
Be sure to check out the complete list of commodity ETFs on ETFdb.com.
Top Three ETF Winners This Week
| ETF Ticker | ETF Name | Commodity Category | Return (Weekly %) | Assets ($ Million) | NAV (as of May 24) | Return (YTD %) | Expense Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USO | United States Oil Fund | Crude Oil | 5.24% | $3,051 | $10.62 | -9.22% | 0.77% |
| BNO | United States Brent Oil Fund | Crude Oil | 5.21% | $106 | $14.53 | -1.89% | 0.90% |
| OILK | ProShares K1 Free Crude Oil Strategy ETF | Crude Oil | 4.85% | $3 | $20.10 | -10.18% | 0.65% |
With crude oil being the second-best-performing commodity this week, the United States Oil Fund (USO) was this week’s best-performing ETF.
See how other crude oil ETFs performed this week on ETFdb.com.
Top Three ETF Losers This Week
| ETF Ticker | ETF Name | Commodity Category | Return (Weekly %) | Assets ($ Million) | NAV (as of May 24) | Return (YTD %) | Expense Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEF | ETFS Bloomberg Energy Commodity Longer Dated Strategy K-1 Free ETF | Energy | -4.72% | $3.80 | $23.41 | -9.54% | 0.39% |
| TAGS | The Teucrium Agricultural Fund | Agriculture | -2.19% | $1.20 | $26.56 | -8.02% | 1.00% |
| CANE | The Teucrium Sugar Fund | Softs | -2.15% | $9.10 | $10.83 | -15.92% | 1.00% |
With natural gas having a poor start to the week, natural gas-heavy ETFs like BEF were negatively affected this week.
Be sure to check out how energy ETFs and agriculture ETFs performed this week on ETFdb.com.
We provide this report on a weekly basis. Click over to our News section to remain updated on the latest happenings in the commodity space.
