The S&P GSCI increased 1.52 per cent in November led by the precious metals sector which gained 13.53 per cent, according to figures from Standard & Poor’s.
Year-to-date through November, the S&P GSCI is up 12.51 per cent.
“Commodity strength in November coincided with a 1.97 per cent decline in the US Dollar Index and a 6.00 per cent increase in the S&P 500 Total Return Index,” says Michael McGlone, director of commodity indexing at S&P Indices. “Also helping dollar-based commodities in November was the continued decline in US interest rates. The yield on the US two-year note declined 12 basis points to the lowest end-of-the-month mark in history at 0.67 per cent, providing little competition for holders of non-income producing assets, such as commodities.”
The S&P GSCI Industrial Metals Index registered a strong return in November, gaining 4.91 per cent during the month.
Poor harvest conditions contributed to the S&P GSCI Agriculture Index gaining 7.73 per cent during the month, pushing it back into positive territory for the year.
Weakness in natural gas and rolling costs led to a 0.46 per cent decline in the S&P GSCI Energy Index in November, lessening its year-to-date return to 10.44 per cent.
Indices designed to alleviate the negative impact of rolling into contango continued to outperform, as evidenced by the 3.27 per cent November gain in the S&P GSCI Enhanced Capped Component 35/20 Index. Year-to-date, the S&P GSCI Enhanced Capped Component 35/20 Index ended the month with a gain of 14.18 per cent compared to the 21.72 per cent increase for the S&P GSCI Enhanced Index and a 20.48 per cent gain for the S&P GSCI 3-Month Forward Index.
