Commodity ETP Weekly – The Fed rate hike looms large for commodities

• Precious metal basket inflows hit 8-month high as FOMC meeting looms.
• Divergent oil flows favour Brent as pressure remains on crude prices after OPEC monthly report continues to show an oversupplied market.
• Flows into copper ETPs continue as further supply cuts reinforce a tighter market in 2016. 

Inflows into Brent ETPs broadly offset outflows from WTI ETPs, although the outlook remains polarised. OPEC’s latest annual report continued to highlight the global supply glut, with output in November climbing 1% to 31.7mbpd. The market reacted negatively to the news with Brent crude oil closing below US$40/bbl for the first time since December 2008. WTI crude also reached a near 7-year low of US$35.80. Brent crude ETPs received inflows totalling US$18.7mn last week, broadly offsetting the US$22.1mn in outflows from WTI crude ETPs. Nonetheless, the headline total of outflows in WTI ETPs belies what we believe to be a significantly polarised market, with US$11.7mn of inflows into ETFS Daily Leveraged WTI crude oil (LOIL).

Energy sector ETPs received inflows for the fifth consecutive week, totalling US$205mn over the period.
Third consecutive weekly inflow into precious metal basket ETPs. Inflows into precious metals basket ETPs totalled US$14mn, the highest level since April 2015. While silver has yet to decouple from gold and is likely to range trade, platinum group metals (PGM) are being hampered by a weaker South African Rand. With South African production dominating global PGM supply, a weaker Rand is enabling miners to keep production elevated as it raises profitability. Political uncertainty is rising and the weaker Rand is likely to be a weight on PGM prices for the foreseeable future.

Gold ETPs break three week losing streak, registering modest inflows of US$1.2mn. Gold has been range trading ahead of the FOMC meeting this week, where an interest rate hike is expected. Near-term weakness could transition into medium term strength as inflation pressures build globally, and put downward pressure on real interest rates. Additionally, while the near certain rate hike could boost the USD and buffet the gold price (and commodities more broadly), we expect that the peak for the USD strength will occur in Q1 2015, turning a headwind into a tailwind.

ETFs Copper (COPA) receives third consecutive weekly inflows, totalling US$2mn. Following reports that Chinese smelters agreed to cut production, last week Freeport-McMoRan announced it is cutting 45,000 tonnes of copper, equivalent to around 0.3% of the global market. With the copper market in its fifth year of deficit, ongoing production cuts in the sector will continue to produce a tighter fundamental environment and we feel that it is only a matter of time before prices begin to respond.

Key events to watch this week.  The divergence in central bank policy is likely to be highlighted, with the FOMC looming large this week, with meetings also for the Riksbank, Norges Bank and the Bank of Japan. We expect a rate hike is a near certainty and that the market should begin to focus on the path of future tightening. We feel that the market is underpricing the magnitude that the Fed will need to raise rates in 2016 in order to counteract inflationary forces.

Video Presentation

Martin Arnold, Research Analyst at ETF Securities provides an analysis of last week’s performance, flow and trading activity in commodity exchange traded products and a look at the week ahead.

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ETF Securities Research team
ETF Securities (UK) Limited
T +44 (0) 207 448 4336
E info@etfsecurities.com

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