
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 weeks ranging September 27th to October 4th.
- Oil prices dropped below $50 per barrel as offsetting data sparked concerns that OPEC may stop its production cut.
- Gold prices held steady this week as positive economic data and a drop in the value of the U.S. dollar boosted investor confidence in the market.
- Aluminum prices fell sharply this week on profit-taking activity after months of bullish movement.
- Be sure to check out our previous week’s article to keep in touch with happenings in the commodity space.
Weekly Market Wrap-up
Energy – Crude oil prices slipped this week after data revealed fears that OPEC may cease its production cut arrangement, while natural gas fell on bearish weather forecasts.
- Oil – Crude oil prices dropped below $50 to $49.98 a barrel after a report showed that the drop in U.S. stockpiles was offset by an uptick in exports, threatening OPEC supply cuts.
- Natural Gas – Natural gas deliveries for November dipped to $2.907 per million British thermal units on bearish weather forecasts.
- Coal – Coal continues to face a global battle with China switching from coal to natural gas for heating homes this winter.
Metals – Copper prices jumped this week after tension over a deal between Freeport-McMoran and Indonesia.
- Precious Metals – Gold prices held flat for the week at $1,278.63 a troy ounce as the U.S. dollar’s strength lessened and positive economic data boosted investor sentiment.
- Other – Aluminum prices fell sharply this week as investors engaged in profit-taking from earlier gains in the year.
Grains – Anomalous weather patterns in Brazil cut wheat crop expectations, helping to buoy the recent price decline.
- Corn and Soybeans – November soybean futures rose slightly to $9.58 on higher Chinese demand this week.
Softs – London sugar moved higher for the week on strong positive technical activity from buyers.
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 October 4) | 52-Week Price Change |
---|---|---|---|---|
London Sugar | 2.61% | NA | $375.70 | $353.3 - $608.3 |
Copper | 1.55% | 12/17/17 | $2.96 | $2.08 - $3.16 |
US Cotton | 0.29% | 12/17/17 | $69.36 | $66.16 - $87.18 |
London sugar topped this week’s list of best-performing commodities with U.S. cotton making the list as well on strong bullish activity. Copper prices rose higher after tensions between Freeport-McMoran and Indonesia threatened mining operations.
Weekly Commodity ETF Movers
For ETF investors, we tracked the top three biggest gainers and top three biggest losers for the past week. Not included are ETN’s, which behave differently than ETF’s, as well as leveraged ETF’s which may not be suitable for some investors. Some ETF’s that have less than one year on the market have been excluded due to lack of long term data.
Top Three ETF Winners This Week
ETF Ticker | ETF Name | Commodity Category | Assets ($ millions) | NAV (as of October 4) | Return (Weekly %) | Return (YTD %) | Expense Ratio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DBB | PowerShares DB Base Metals Fund | Metals | $290.53 | $18.49 | 2.61% | 23.73% | 0.75% |
CPER | United States Copper Index Fund | Copper | $7.61 | $18.97 | 1.01% | 15.78% | 0.80% |
DBA | PowerShares DB Agriculture Fund | Agriculture | $711.50 | $18.92 | 0.48% | -5.26% | 0.85% |
This week’s best commodity-based ETF performers were led by metals, with a broad-based fund and a copper fund. An agricultural fund also found its way onto the list on higher Chinese demand for soybeans.
Top Three ETF Losers This Week
ETF Ticker | ETF Name | Commodity Category | Assets ($ Millions) | NAV (as of October 4) | Return (Weekly %) | Return (YTD %) | Expense Ratio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
USO | United States Oil Fund | Oil | $2,312.05 | $10.08 | -4.18% | -13.99% | 0.77% |
UNG | United States Natural Gas Fund | Natural Gas | $523.30 | $6.39 | -4.05% | -31.58% | 1.12% |
WEAT | Teucrium Wheat Fund | Wheat | $66.40 | $6.49 | -3.71% | -5.67% | 1.00% |
This week’s worst-performing commodity-based ETFs were mostly in the energy sector, with oil and natural gas slipping on bearish news. A wheat ETF dropped as well, as the commodity continues to be sold off following earlier news of ample global supply.
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.