
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 October 12th to October 18th.
- The price of oil continued to climb for the third week in a row.
- Natural gas prices saw a decline of over 3%, due to warmer-than-expected weather in the United States.
- Copper reached its highest level since February 2014 and remains the best-performing commodity on a year-to-date basis.
- Be sure to read our previous week’s report to become familiar with commodity market trends.
Weekly Market Wrap-up
Energy – Oil continues its upward trend and saw a near three-week high after reports of crude oil inventories falling by 5.7 million barrels according to the EIA. Domestic crude production also slumped by 11% this week to 8.4 million, due to a shutdown in production in the U.S. Gulf Coast caused by Hurricane Nate.
- Oil – Oil prices saw moderately high gains this week, up 1.56%. Oil prices finished lower on Thursday after four straight days of gains, thanks to ongoing tensions in Iraq and the uncertainty surrounding Iran’s nuclear deal. Check out our take on key actionable ideas to invest in crude oil.
- Natural Gas – U.S. natural gas was one of the week’s worst performers, decreasing 3.28% to around $2.894 per million British thermal units because of warmer-than-expected weather across the U.S.
Metals – The metals market was a mixed bag this week. Silver saw a modest gain of 0.06%, while platinum saw a decline of 1.61%.
- Precious Metals – Gold saw a slight decline of 0.32% for the week and ended at $1,291.83 per troy ounce, as worried investors snapped a three-day losing streak due to growing geopolitical uncertainty.
- Other – Copper futures was this week’s best performer, up 2.06% to $3.169 /pound to reach the highest levels since February 2014.
Grains – U.S. wheat saw a slight drop of 0.58%
- Corn and Soybeans – Corn saw a gain of 0.07%, while soybeans saw a decline of 0.48% for the week.
Softs – Cotton also declined for the week by 0.78%, reaching the lowest level in nine months.
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 Oct. 19) | 52-Week Price Change |
---|---|---|---|---|
Copper | 2.06% | 12/27/2017 | $3.17 | $3.22 - $2.08 |
BrentOil | 1.74% | 10/31/2017 | $57.23 | $59.49 - $43.57 |
Crude Oil WTI | 1.56% | 11/20/2017 | $51.41 | $55.24 - $42.05 |
Copper was this week’s largest gainer in the commodity sector, up 2.06%. Copper rose over 26% on a year-to-date basis, and thanks to a renewed optimism in China’s economy, it has risen for six straight days.
Weekly Commodity ETF Movers
For ETF investors, we tracked the top three biggest gainers and top three biggest losers for the past week. Not included are ETN’s, which behave differently than ETF’s, as well as leveraged ETF’s which may not be suitable for some investors. Considering the limited data for the year, all ETF’s were taken into consideration regardless of YTD gains.
Be sure to check the complete list of commodity ETFs on ETFdb.com.
Top Three ETF Winners This Week
ETF Ticker | ETF Name | Commodity Category | Assets ($ Million) | NAV (as of Oct. 19) | Return (Weekly %) | Return (YTD %) | Expense Ratio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RCOM | Elkhorn Fundamental Commodity Strategy ETF | Diversified Commodity | $9.20 | $26.76 | 2.96% | 5.81% | 0.75% |
CPER | United States Copper Index Fund | Copper | $8.20 | $20.39 | 2.62% | 24.71% | 0.80% |
UGA | United States Gasoline Fund | Gasoline | $56.80 | $29.29 | 2.45% | -6.48% | 0.75% |
The Elkhorn Fundamental Commodity Strategy ETF was this week’s top performer, thanks to its top three holdings – copper, brent crude oil and crude oil WTI – all of which performed better this week.
Top Three ETF Losers This Week
ETF Ticker | ETF Name | Commodity Category | Assets ($ Million) | NAV (as of Oct. 19) | Return (Weekly %) | Return (YTD %) | Expense Ratio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BEF | ETFS Bloomberg Energy Commodity Longer Dated Strategy K-1 Free ETF | Energy | $3.72 | $24.08 | -2.71% | 0.63% | 0.39% |
TAGS | Teucrium Agricultural Fund | Agriculture | $1.16 | $22.55 | -1.53% | -12.19% | 1.00% |
DBP | PowerShares DB Precious Metals Fund | Precious Metals | $160.00 | $38.08 | -1.07% | 9.27% | 0.75% |
The ETFS Bloomberg Energy Commodity Longer Dated Strategy K-1 Free ETF was the worst-performing ETF this week because it has over 27% invested in natural gas, which was down 3.28% this 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.