Commodity Trading Trends: Sugar Futures Slide
The past week was riddled with volatility as equities failed to establish any kind of meaningful pattern. With equities in disarray, commodities futures suffered, as they tend to exhibit a fair amount of volatility on their own, despite market conditions. A number of major commodities posted losses for the trailing week, as news from Europe coupled with a weak Chinese GDP report prompted some rough sell-offs. One of the hardest hit commodities came from the softs family. Sugar futures endured a bumpy week, as Sugar #11 futures lost 5.4% while #16 contracts tacked up losses of nearly 6.1% [see also 12 High-Yielding Commodities For 2012].
Commodity Trading Trends: Sugar Futures Looking Sweet
Sugar, a member of the softs family, is one of the more popular commodities among investors as it is known to exhibit volatile daily swings, leaving the door open for some handsome gains. While sugar may seem like a strange investment, it is an international commodity just like crude oil or copper. But for commodity traders looking for glaring trends in recent environments, sugar is it. The past week has watched a number of commodities face devastation, as increased market volatility has put a significant amount of pressure on these global assets. Over the trailing five day period, sugar has been the top dog as far as commodities are concerned, posting gains of 3.2%, while others, like silver, lobbed off more than 10% of their prices [see also Ultimate Guide To Sugar Investing].
First Soybeans ETF Debuts: Teucrium Launches SOYB, CANE, WEAT
This article originally appeared on ETFdb.com Teucrium, the company behind the first corn ETF and innovative energy commodity products, doubled the size of its product lineup on Monday with the launch of three new single-commodity funds. Two of the new additions to the fast-growing ETF lineup are first-to-market concepts, while a third will offer exposure to a soft commodity already covered by two iPath ETNs. The new Teucrium products are:
Daily Commodity Roundup: Sugar Soars On Brazilian Crop, Cocoa Tumbles On Surplus
Today saw equities finish mixed as the Senate rejected a House GOP plan to cut the budget and pass an increase to the debt ceiling. Though this was an expected move, it certainly did not help markets, as investors continually wait for the government to make tangible progress on the debt crisis before the looming deadline. Friday’s trading session also saw oil touch the $100 per barrel mark before finishing just under the triple digit level, likely boosted by strong earnings reports. Likewise, gold had a solid day, finishing above the $1,600 per ounce mark on continued uncertainty over debt. The majority of commodities saw a strong day as well; over five separate futures contracts posted gains of 1% or more. But among all of the winners and losers on the day, two stood out in particular, due to various supply reports from across the globe.
Daily Commodity Roundup: Sugar Soars On Indian Demand, Natural Gas Falls On EIA Report
Equities surged forward today as solid earnings reports from a number of key firms helped to boost sentiment. Phillip Morris International rose by nearly 5% on a solid outlook while Union Pacific gained a similar amount on price increases as well. To top things off, Morgan Stanley showed a robust increase in trading revenues which helped to carry the financial sector higher overall and sent MS soaring by over 11%. Also helping markets in their 1%+ gains were actions to help Greece through yet another round of its debt crisis. While not all information has been released, initial reports from Brussels suggest that Greece will receive a bailout valued at 109 billion euro, alleviating fears that the nation would default altogether. Commodities saw an interesting day as well, as crude oil is again flirting with the $100 per barrel mark while other products took a hit during the trading session … See the full story here
Daily Commodity Roundup: Sugar Continues Slide On Brazilian Crop, Orange Juice Rises On Florida Weather
American markets tumbled in Thursday trading as the second day of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s testimony weighed on U.S. equities. In the report, Bernanke seemed to quell any notion of stimulus in the near future, suggesting that the economic situation will have to deteriorate further if another round of QE is in the cards. Industrial goods, services, and tech were all big losers on the day while health care and consumer companies managed to rise above the overall market to close the session. In international markets, Asia started the day mixed as Chinese and Indian benchmarks rose, but Australia and Japan both fell, leaving the region pretty much flat overall. European markets, however, were down across the board as pretty much all the benchmarks on the continent lost about 1% in the day’s trading.
Daily Commodity Roundup: Sugar Surges On Crop Concerns, Cotton Continues Tumble On Demand Fears
American markets floated upwards for much of Tuesday’s session until right before the close when Moody’s downgraded Ireland to ‘junk’ pushing equities sharply lower to close out the day. The heaviest losses came in the technology sector as the Nasdaq underperformed its counterparts, led lower by a nearly 1.7% loss in both Intel and Oracle. Utilities and basic materials, however, did manage to have solid days led by strength in natural resource prices and a desire for more safe haven investments in the space. Global markets were also in the red pretty much across the board as the Asia-Pacific region started the day with a nearly 1.8% loss in Australia and Shanghai, followed by a 3% tumble in the Hang Seng exchange. Meanwhile, in Europe, most benchmarks finished lower by about one percent although the Italian exchange did make back some of its losses, gaining 1.2% in Tuesday trading.
Daily Commodity Roundup: Sugar Soars On Crop Outlook, Natural Gas Falls On Supply Report
Today saw equities return to their winning ways, as positive data from around the country pushed major indexes higher, with the S&P 500 tacking on 14 more points in today’s trading session. A healthy jobs report pointed towards more hiring around the nation, and hopefully to a stronger recovery, as the process has been lagging thus far. The commodity world saw yet another strong day as the majority of individual contracts saw gains on good data and a further weakening U.S. dollar. The UBS Bloomberg CMCI index gained 34.5 points along with the RJ/CRB Commodity benchmark which jumped 6 points on the strong commodity performance for the day.
