Managed futures traders gained 0.64 per cent in July according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge. The index is down 1.04 per cent for the year.
The BTOP50 Index, which tracks 20 of the largest CTAs, showed a modest gain of 0.60 per cent and is down 4.20 per cent through the end of July.
“Managed futures traders were able to eke out gains last month in spite of the cross currents in commodity markets,” says Sol Waksman (pictured), founder and president of BarclayHedge. “Profits resulting from US dollar weakness against the euro and a new record high in the S&P 500 were enough to overcome losses from trend reversals in energy and agricultural products.”
All of the six fund sub-indices measured by BarclayHedge recorded gains in July. Financials/Metals, which had been the worst performing sector in June, led the way with a gain of 0.85 per cent while Currencies showed the smallest gains of 0.09 per cent.
Year to date, Agricultural remains the best performing sector with a gain of 2.86 per cent, while Diversified continues to lag all other sectors with a 3.23 per cent decline.
“July was a solid but unspectacular month for what looks to be turning out to be an unspectacular year,” said Waksman. “Agricultural may be on its way to first up year since 2014, while Diversified is on track for losses three years in a row.”
