November proved to be a good month for risk assets, including commodities. The headline S&P GSCI rose 12.0%, outperforming the S&P 500®, which gained 10.8%. Promising developments on the COVID-19 vaccine front and the U.S. election outcome rewarded risk assets such as energy and industrial metals, while safe-haven assets like gold lost some luster. The…
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The headline S&P GSCI fell 3.6% in September on the back of growing concern regarding the prolonged economic impact of a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Across sectors, both industrial metals and energy contracted, while the agriculture and livestock sectors benefited from cursory signs of the return of demand from China. The S&P GSCI…
The S&P GSCI rose 3.8% in July 2020, taking its YTD performance to down 33.9%. Weakness in the U.S. dollar against a range of currencies supported commodities. The broad U.S. dollar fell to a two-year low at the end of the month. Lower real rates, a weaker dollar, and widespread fiscal and monetary stimulus measures…
COVID-19 continued to wreak havoc across commodities markets in April. The S&P GSCI fell 9.67% in April and 47.92% YTD. Economic data continued to weaken into uncharted territory. Supply chains crucial to the flow of commodities from extraction to consumption experienced a sudden shut off and demand collapsed. Energy and agriculture underperformed, while metals offered…
Over the past five years, the S&P GSCI Coffee underperformed the other soft commodities, as can be seen in Exhibit 1. Broad oversupply issues that have been seen in most commodities have been particularly pronounced in the coffee market. In addition to the major coffee-producing countries’ respective economic problems, these countries also generally suffer from…
Commodities markets hit the summer doldrums in July. The S&P GSCI was down 0.2% for the month and 13.1% YTD. The Dow Jones Commodity Index (DJCI) was down 0.8% in July and up 6.1% YTD, reflecting its lower energy weighting. Impressive rallies in nickel and silver markets were pitched against a slump in agriculture prices,…
Commodities markets resumed their upward trajectory in June. The S&P GSCI was up 4.4% for the month and up 13.3% YTD. The Dow Jones Commodity Index (DJCI) was up 3.1% in June and up 6.9% YTD, reflecting its lower energy weighting. A recovery in petroleum prices and an impressive rally in gold were the main…
After much economic activity this week, the Fed announced inflation moved “somewhat closer” to the objective and is showing signs of firming after running below its 2% target for the past two years. In the last June report from the United States Department of Labor, food prices continued to increase although at a slower pace and unleaded gasoline prices had…
I fear the risk premium for agriculture and livestock may vanish sometime soon as climate change and El Nino drive up food prices. When investing in commodities as an asset class there are five components of return to be earned by using futures. While each component’s contribution to performance varies through time depending on the…
Finally, in April, commodities got hot enough to turn around even the base metals (also known as the industrial metals,) up 1.8% for the month. Although this comeback is not driven by the main supply shocks we are experiencing in energy and agriculture, it is fundamental in nature. China’s State Reserves Bureau (SRB) is now buying copper…
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