Gold has had a difficult start to the year having produced negative returns in the first three weeks,
. For other commodities, it seems to be a similar story.
The price of the USD usually has an opposite effect on the price on Gold. If the value of the dollar weakens, the price of Gold will rise. However since April last year, the dollar has had an upward trend which has caused the fall in Gold's returns. Additionally it would appear the same outcome has happened for the rest of the precious metal commodities.
The ETFS Physical PM Basket is comprised of four precious metals, Gold (50 per cent), Palladium (24 per cent), Silver (18 per cent) and Platinum (8 per cent). The ETC had a successful Q4 in 2018, producing returns of 13.18 per cent by the year's end but quickly changed. Having its ups and downs for the first couple of weeks of the year, the ETC is down 1.7% Year to Date, according to data from Just ETF.
Despite the slow start to the year, there is one commodity which seems to be going in the opposite direction: Palladium. Producing returns as high as 1.94 per cent YTD, the db Physical Palladium ETC seems to suggest Palladium is the most precious of precious metals. The ETC produced returns as high as 48.25 per cent in 2016.
Palladium ETC YTD 2018 2017 2016
db Physical Palladium ETC 1.94% 24.04% 44.14% 48.25%
ETFS Physical Palladium 0.22% 29.72% 40.09% 46.05%
Invesco Physical Palladium 1.81% 24.57% 43.76% 45.92%
iShares Physical Palladium ETC 1.73% 25.37% 42.98% 48.25%
The likes of Platinum, Rhodium and Silver all share a similar story with Gold. Platinum and Silver ETCs in particular have been producing negative returns for the last two years.
Platnium ETC YTD 2018 2017 2016
Db Physical Platinum ETC -1.91% -10.84% -5.51% 24.75%
ETFS Physical Platinum -1.89% -13.89% -2.21% 25.29%
Invesco Physical Platinum -1.89% -9.86% -6.43% 25.17%
iShares Physical Platinum ETC -1.87% -9.89% -6.39% 24.86%
Rhodium ETC YTD 2018 2017 2016
db Physical Rhodium ETC -1.76% 54.76% 84.03% 48.21%
Silver ETC YTD 2018 2017 2016
ETFS Physical Silver -1.95% -5.29% -5.40% 41.14%
Invesco Physical Silver -10.89% 4.42% -5.20% 40.57%
iShares Physical Silver ETC -3.40% 0.00% -8.77% 40.87%
