What’s driving the divergence of commodity prices

As the chart below demonstrates commodity prices are driven by different factors. The precious metals prices have been the hyperbolic driver of headline commodities news relative to the broader based commodities index and oil. The latter two are more geared to industrial use as gold’s commercial use is limited.

The chart highlights the divergence in the components of the commodities index. iShares S&P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust (GSG) tracks 24 different commodities including energy (67%), industrial metals (16%), livestock (7%) and precious metals (3%).