HardAssetsInvestor

Written by Drew Voros  |

November 02, 2012

Commodity ETF Flows: Closed Markets Sharply Reduce Investment Flows; Metal Funds Outperform

Details

Paltry flows of investment capital stems from U.S. stock markets being closed two days this week.

The closure of U.S. stock markets on Monday and Tuesday of this week was to blame for a reduction of flows into commodity-related, exchange-traded products this past week ending Thursday. A mere $16 million net total of new capital flowed into the space that saw more than $1 billion in inflows just a few weeks ago.

Precious metals funds continued to lead sectors in inflows with $90 million, but that figure doesn’t include today’s trading, which saw a 2 percent drop in gold prices in reaction to the positive U.S. unemployment report. The only other sector with inflows was energy, with $46 million.

Broad market (multicommodity) led outflows with $81 million, followed by agriculture with $37 million and industrial metals, which saw $2 million in outflows.

Exchange-traded products (ETPs) include exchange-traded funds (ETFs), exchange-traded vehicles (ETVs) and exchange-traded notes (ETNs).

ETP Inflows/Outflows

Oil funds drew the most new investment capital, with SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production (NYSE Arca: XOP) leading inflows with $113 million, followed by Market Vectors Oil Services (NYSE Arca: OIH) with $72 million, iShares Gold Trust (NYSE Arca: IAU) with $53 million, ProShares Ultra DJ-UBS Crude Oil (NYSE Arca: UCO) with $43 million and United States Oil (NYSE Arca: USO) with $39 million.

Energy funds also populated the top redemptions, with iShares Dow Jones U.S. Energy (NYSE Arca: IYE) leaking $190 million in outflows, followed by Power Shares DB Commodity Tacking (NYSE Arca: DBC) with $72 million, First Trust Energy AlphaDEX (NYSE Arca: FXN) with $45 million, Energy Select SPDR (NYSE Arca: XLE) with $44 million and SPDR Gold (NYSE Arca: GLD) with $33 million in outflows.

ETP Performance

Metal and mining funds outperformed, led by First Trust ISE Global Platinum (NYSE Arca: PLTM) with a 4.84 percent increase, followed by Global X Silver Miners (NYSE Arca: SIL) with a 4.64 percent jump, First Trust Nasdaq Clean Edge Green Energy (NYSE Arca: QCLN) with a 4.39 percent spike, iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners (NYSE Arca: SLVP) with a 4.31 percent rise and PowerShares Water Resources (NYSE Arca: PHO) gaining 3.86 percent.

Soft commodity funds were among the worst performers, led by iPath Dow Jones-UBS Softs Total Return ETN (NYSE Arca: JJS) falling 6.25 percent, followed by iPath Dow Jones-UBS Natural Gas Total Return (NYSE Arca: GAZ) with a 5.62 percent decrease, ELEMENTS Credit Suisse Global Warming ETN (NYSE Arca: GWO) with a 5.59 percent drop-off, iPath Dow Jones-UBS Cotton Total Return ETN (NYSE Arca: BAL) with a 5.39 percent decline and iPath Pure Beta Cotton ETN (NYSE Arca: CTNN) losing 5.22 percent.

Fund Flows Data (October 26 - November 1, 2012):

Commodity ETF Weekly Flows By Sector

Top 5 Commodity ETF Creations

Top 5 Commodity ETF Redemptions

Top 5 Weekly Performers, Excluding <1,000 Shares Traded

Bottom 5 Weekly Performers, Excluding <1,000 Shares Traded

Top 5 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM

Disclaimer: Data provided by IndexUniverse. All data as of 6 a.m. Eastern the date of publication. Data is believed to be accurate; however, transient market data is often subject to subsequent revision and correction by the exchanges.