Commodities enjoyed an impressive start to 2019. The S&P GSCI was up 9.0% in January, while the Dow Jones Commodity Index (DJCI) was up 5.4%. The strong performance was largely driven by a notable recovery in petroleum prices, but industrial metals also enjoyed a revival. Oil prices recovered strongly over the first full trading week Read more […]
Industrial metals hit multi-year highs last month with the S&P GSCI Industrial Metals Index up off its bottom nearly 60%. This was mainly due to strong Chinese demand growth and a falling US dollar. While the dollar has continued its fall in September, there is some concern over slowing growth in China. On average, returns Read more […]
In August, the Dow Jones Commodity Index Total Return gained 0.7%, reducing its year-to-date loss to -1.4%, and the S&P GSCI Total Return lost 0.8%, increasing its year-to-date loss to -6.9%. Industrial metals and precious metals were the only positive sectors, up 8.6% and 4.0%, respectively, while agriculture was the worst performing sector, losing 7.4%, Read more […]
Many news headlines point to rising or falling Chinese demand growth as a main influence of commodity performance. However, there are many other fundamentals like the U.S. dollar and interest rates that drive commodities. Even in the Chinese market, there are forces besides demand growth like demand for storage and demand for metals to be used as financial Read more […]
Commodities have continued their slump in April with the S&P GSCI Total Return losing 2.1% and Dow Jones Commodity Index (DJCI) Total Return losing 1.7% for year to date performance of -7.1% and -3.6%, respectively. Only 2 of 5 sectors and 7 of 24 commodities were positive in April. In the S&P GSCI, livestock gained Read more […]
November was sandwiched between two eventful surprises, starting with the election and ending with OPEC’s agreement to cut output, that resulted in a month filled with big moves, mostly positive. The Dow Jones Commodity Index (DJCI) Total Return for the month was 2.3%, bringing its year-to-date (YTD) total return to 11.8%. The S&P GSCI Total Return Read more […]
July was a bloodbath for commodities in the Dow Jones Commodity Index (DJCI) losing 6.0% and in the S&P GSCI losing 9.6% in total return. Although the equally weighted DJCI is still up 7.4% YTD through July 29, 2016, the S&P GSCI that is world-production weighted gave up all its gains from Q2 and is now negative 65 basis Read more […]
For the first time since June 2014, the Dollar Spot Index yoy% was negative in March. That was one of the main reasons commodities had such a strong month with the S&P GSCI gaining 4.9% and Dow Jones Commodity Index (DJCI) up 4.0%. Since commodities are priced in US dollars, when the dollar rises, it Read more […]
Six months ago, commodities looked like they were on the brink of a comeback. The S&P GSCI Total Return gained 7.4% YTD through June 20 at its high. Back then, almost a record number of commodities, 12, were in backwardation, reflecting shortages in Brent Crude, Cocoa, Copper, Corn, Cotton, WTI Crude Oil, Feeder Cattle, Gold, Live Cattle, Natural Gas, Soybeans and Unleaded Read more […]
“Weighing In:” will be a series of posts comparing and contrasting the impact of different weighting schemes within commodity indices. The series will be the first to feature our two headline indices, the equally weighted Dow Jones Commodity Index (DJCI) and the world production weighted S&P GSCI. The purpose of the series is to help you reach your portfolio goals Read more […]
