Oil Continues to Rally

Oil Continues to RallyOil Continues to Rally

ETF Securities Commodity ETP Weekly Oil Continues to Rally

Profit-taking drives US$58.1mn out of oil ETPs.

ETFS Daily Leveraged Nickel (LNIK) sees its highest weekly inflows since inception in 2008.

ETFS Daily Leveraged Tin (LTIM) had its second highest weekly flow since inception in 2008.

Download the complete report (.pdf)

With oil prices staging a premature recovery, many investors are taking profit. Global oil supply has not yet tightened, pointing to a geopolitical premium on oil prices accounting for the recent price gains. We believe there could be a correction in the short-term, but prices will continue to rise once supply starts to tighten. Tightening supply has also driven tin prices higher and we expect a similar trend across most industrial metals this year. Falling energy prices has not reduced production costs for metals sufficiently to restore profitability and supply cuts are the likely course for most metals.

Profit-taking drives US$58.1mn out of long oil ETPs. With Brent and WTI oil prices bouncing a further 1.4% and 1.8% respectively last week, more investors took profit on their positions. Last week was the third consecutive week of outflows as the price of Brent and WTI have gained 16% and 22% respectively over that period. Recent gains however appear excessive given the fundamentals. The positive reaction to a slower inventory build in the US two weeks ago was somewhat premature, given that last week inventories grew at a quicker pace than expected. All indications point to OPEC continuing to produce more oil, with March output from the cartel surging 810,000 barrels per day. Geopolitical risk has added a premium to the oil price, with Saudi Arabia’s attacks on Yemen, threatening to destabilize the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a narrow chokepoint between the Horn of Africa and the Middle East. The strait is a transit point for 3.8 million barrels per day of oil, or 4% of global oil supply. Any easing of the instability in Yemen could see the premium dissipate relatively quickly. Moreover, Saudi Arabia could continue to increase the amount of oil it produces, which would pull down prices. In March it increased oil production by 660,000 barrels per day. A short-term correction in oil prices could once again open up an opportunity to go long oil for many investors ahead of the next OPEC meeting in June, where we expect talk of modest cuts to production to help prices increase once again.

ETFS Daily Leveraged Nickel (LNIK) sees its highest weekly inflows since inception in 2008.
LNIK received US$2.2mn of inflows last week, following the International Nickel Study Group’s April meeting in Lisbon where it predicted that nickel usage will increase to 1.94Mt in 2015 from 1.87Mt in 2014. At the same time it forecasts production will decrease to 1.96Mt in 2015 from 1.99Mt in 2014, helping to tighten the supply surplus this year.

ETFS Daily Leveraged Tin (LTIM) had its second highest weekly flow since inception in 2008. Sharp price gains attracted US$1.6mn of inflows into LTIM. With Indonesia’s largest tin producer cutting output by as much as 50%, tin prices accelerated last week, gaining 3.4%. Tin prices had slumped by more 35% in the past year, increasing the urgency to cut back on production by the largest producing country.

Key events to watch this week. The Federal Open Market Committee will meet this week to decide on interest rates. This will be last meeting before June and will not be accompanied by a press conference. The market will therefore remain very attentive to FOMC member speeches and public engagements to glean any information about the possible path of rate increases this year.

Video Presentation

Nitesh Shah, Research Analyst at ETF Securities provides an analysis of last week’s performance, flow and trading activity in commodity exchange traded products and a look at the week ahead.

For more information contact

ETF Securities Research team
ETF Securities (UK) Limited
T +44 (0) 207 448 4336
E info@etfsecurities.com

Important Information

General

This communication has been provided by ETF Securities (UK) Limited (”ETFS UK”) which is authorised and regulated by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority.

This is a strictly privileged and confidential communication between ETFS UK and its selected client. This communication contains information addressed only to a specific individual and is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person other than the named addressee. This communication (i) is provided for informational purposes only, (ii) should not be construed in any manner as any solicitation or offer to buy or sell any securities or any related financial instruments, and (iii) should not be construed in any manner as a public offer of any securities or any related financial instruments. If you are not the named addressee, you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this communication. Please notify the sender immediately if you have mistakenly received this communication. When being made within Italy, this communication is for the exclusive use of the ”qualified investors” and its circulation among the public is prohibited.

This document is not, and under no circumstances is to be construed as, an advertisement or any other step in furtherance of a public offering of shares in the United States or any province or territory thereof. Neither this document nor any copy hereof should be taken, transmitted or distributed (directly or indirectly) into the United States.

This document may contain independent market commentary prepared by ETFS UK based on publicly available information. ETFS UK does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy or correctness of any information contained herein and any opinions related to product or market activity may change. Any third party data providers used to source the information in this communication make no warranties or representation of any kind relating to such data.

Any historical performance included in this document may be based on back testing. Back tested performance is purely hypothetical and is provided in this document solely for informational purposes. Back tested data does not represent actual performance and should not be interpreted as an indication of actual or future performance.

Historical performance is not an indication of or a guide to future performance.

The information contained in this communication is neither an offer for sale nor a solicitation of an offer to buy securities. This communication should not be used as the basis for any investment decision.

ETFS UK is required by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (”FCA”) to clarify that it is not acting for you in any way in relation to the investment or investment activity to which this communication relates. In particular, ETFS UK will not provide any investment services to you and or advise you on the merits of, or make any recommendation to you in relation to, the terms of any transaction. No representative of ETFS UK is authorised to behave in any way which would lead you to believe otherwise. ETFS UK is not, therefore, responsible for providing you with the protections afforded to its clients and you should seek your own independent legal, investment and tax or other advice as you see fit.

Risk Warnings

Any products referenced in this document are generally aimed at sophisticated, professional and institutional investors. Any decision to invest should be based on the information contained in the prospectus (and any supplements thereto) of the relevant product issue. The price of any securities may go up or down and an investor may not get back the amount invested. Securities may valued in currencies other than those in which there are priced and will be affected by exchange rate movements. Investments in the securities which provide a short and/or leveraged exposure are only suitable for sophisticated, professional and institutional investors who understand leveraged and compounded daily returns and are willing to magnify potential losses by comparison to investments which do not incorporate these strategies. Over periods of greater than one day, investments with a short and/or leveraged exposure do not necessarily provide investors with a return equivalent to a return from the unleveraged long or unleveraged short investments multiplied by the relevant leverage factor. Investors should refer to the section entitled ”Risk Factors” in the relevant prospectus for further details of these and other risks associated with an investment in any securities referenced in this communication.

If you have any questions please contact ETFS UK at +44 20 7448 4330 or info@etfsecurities.com for more information.