General Commodities ETFs
Broad commodity ETFs finished mostly lower, with energy-heavy products underperforming despite retaining strong weekly and monthly gains. PDBC declined 1.30%, DBC fell 1.37%, GSG lost 1.27% and COMT dropped 1.44%. Materials equity funds moved modestly higher, including XLB at +0.37% and VAW at +0.32%, although XLB recorded approximately $119.3 million in daily outflows. Agriculture was also weak: DBA declined 1.33%, wheat fell 1.72% and soybeans dropped 2.27%. Managed-futures strategies were mixed, with DBMF gaining 0.22% and attracting a notable $487.1 million, while CTA fell 2.54% and recorded $13.2 million in redemptions.
Oil and Gas ETFs
Oil-linked ETFs declined following their strong recent rally. BNO fell 2.79%, DBO declined 2.59% and USO lost 2.20%, although all three remained approximately 9% higher for the week and 20%–21% higher over the past month. USO recorded $158.1 million in daily outflows, while BNO lost $12.6 million. The inverse crude fund SCO gained 1.38% and attracted $126.1 million. Natural-gas products were comparatively stable, with UNG down 0.20%, BOIL slipping 0.10% and UNL gaining 0.10%; UNG and BOIL received inflows of $9.2 million and $4.8 million, respectively. Energy equities outperformed the underlying commodity funds: XLE, VDE and FENY gained roughly 0.3%, while exploration-and-production funds XOP and IEO rose 0.13% and 0.21%. XOP attracted a particularly strong $127.0 million, although oil-services fund OIH recorded $42.0 million in outflows.
Metals and Miners ETFs
Precious-metals ETFs advanced, with silver funds leading: SIVR gained 1.11% and SLV rose 1.08%, while GLD, IAU and BAR added approximately 0.5%–0.6%. Palladium climbed 1.68% and platinum gained about 0.8%. Despite the positive prices, GLD experienced a substantial $400.3 million outflow, partly offset by $24.6 million flowing into IAU. Gold-mining funds were also generally higher, with GDX gaining 1.11%, GDXJ advancing 1.06% and SGDM rising 0.62%; however, GDX recorded $24.1 million in redemptions. Industrial-metals performance was mixed: CPER gained 0.36% and DBB rose 0.28%, while lithium fund LIT declined 0.45% and rare-earth fund REMX dropped 2.57%. Mining-equity funds were similarly uneven, with PICK edging higher and COPX nearly unchanged, while XME fell 0.99% and SETM lost 2.23%. Uranium was the weakest metals subsector, as URA declined 3.27% and URNM fell 4.12%, although both funds attracted new capital during the selloff.
General Commodities
Commodity markets opened the week amid a cautious, risk-off backdrop, with U.S. equity futures pointing lower as renewed concerns about the pace of AI development weighed on sentiment. The U.S. Dollar Index was little changed near 99.10, leaving precious and industrial metals mixed. Energy markets were the clear focus as escalating Middle East supply disruptions pushed crude oil and refined products sharply higher. Investors are also looking ahead to Chinese industrial production, retail sales and fixed-asset investment data, followed by U.S. manufacturing figures later in the week.
Oil and Gas
Oil prices surged as geopolitical risks intensified across two critical Middle Eastern shipping corridors. WTI rose 3.2% to $103.28 per barrel, Brent gained 3.7% to $108.44 and spot Brent reportedly traded above $125. RBOB gasoline advanced 4.3%, while ultra-low-sulfur diesel rose 2.5%. The rally followed the postponement of talks between Iran and Gulf Cooperation Council countries, continuing attacks on vessels near the Strait of Hormuz and damage to Saudi Aramco’s East-West pipeline, which could take five to six weeks to repair. Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained well below recent averages, while the pipeline outage threatened a significant portion of global supply and placed additional pressure on Saudi export inventories. Natural gas gained 2.1% to $2.891 per MMBtu as forecasts called for above-normal temperatures across most of the United States. Strong LNG feedgas demand and rising international gas prices also supported the market, with European TTF natural gas climbing 5.0%.
- Oil & Gas Pricing:
- WTI +3.2% to $103.28 (Oct)
- Brent +3.7% to $108.44 (Nov)
- Natural gas +2.1% to $2.891 (Oct)
- RBOB +4.3% to $3.449 (Oct)
- ULSD +2.5% to $5.081 (Oct)
Metals and Miners
Metals were mixed as a relatively stable dollar and weaker equity-market sentiment limited directional conviction. Gold slipped 0.07% to $4,404.10 per ounce, while silver gained 0.19% to $65.05 and copper edged 0.05% higher to $6.551 per pound. Aluminum and nickel each declined 0.27%, while zinc dropped 1.94%. Mining equities indicated a weaker start, with Newmont and B2Gold down approximately 2.2% and Freeport-McMoRan falling 4.3% in premarket trading, although the VanEck Gold Miners and Junior Gold Miners ETFs remained higher based on their latest closes. Corporate developments included Osisko Development’s decision to proceed with construction of the Cariboo Gold Project, First Mining Gold’s upcoming addition to the GDXJ benchmark and TRX Gold’s record quarterly and annual production. In industrial materials, Neo Performance Materials began commercial rare-earth magnet production in Estonia, while Hercules Metals reported additional evidence of a potential porphyry copper system at its Idaho property.
- Metals Pricing:
- Gold (0.07)% to $4404.1/oz, Monthly (0.35)%, YTD +1.45%:
- Silver +0.19% to $65.05/oz, Monthly (0.34)%, YTD (7.87)%:
- Copper +0.05% to $6.551/lb, Monthly (0.98)%, YTD +15.29%:
- Aluminum (0.27)% to $3343/mt, Monthly +0%, YTD +0%:
- Nickel (0.27)% to $16630/mt, Monthly +0%, YTD +0%:
- Zinc (1.94)% to $4105/mt, Monthly +0%, YTD +0%:
- VanEck Gold Miners ETF +0.9% to $96.89, Monthly +7.07%, YTD +12.96%:
- VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF +1.19% to $125.58, Monthly +5.72%, YTD +10.37%:
- US Dollar +0.05% to $99.097, Monthly (0.72)%, YTD +0.79%:
- CBOE Volatility Index (9.04)% to $16.49, Monthly (2.76)%, YTD (0.26)%:
