Commodities Escape Worst of Market Rout on Robust Demand Outlook

Bloomberg Commodity Index pares losses by end of Asian day
Banks say bullish case for raw materials remains intact

Dump trucks operate in an open pit at the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine, jointly owned by Rio Tinto Group's Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. unit and state-owned Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi LLC, in Khanbogd, the South Gobi desert, Mongolia, on Saturday, July 23, 2016. Mongolia exported 817,000 tons of copper concentrate in the first half of the year compared with 663,800 tons a year earlier, an increase of 23.1 percent.Photographer: Taylor Weidman/Bloomberg

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By Jake Lloyd-Smith and Heesu Lee

February 6, 2018 at 1:22 AM UTC

Updated on

February 6, 2018 at 10:24 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Commodities are escaping the worst of the global market rout as losses in raw materials are capped by speculation that the bullish outlook for demand remains intact.

The Bloomberg Commodity Index pared its decline to only 0.1 percent by the end of the Asian day as gains in precious metals and U.S. natural gas helped offset lower oil and industrial metals. While some raw materials were dragged lower as investors eschew risk, the reaction was muted compared with other assets. Stock markets from Hong Kong to Tokyo tumbled more than 4 percent following Monday’s collapse in U.S. equities and bond yields.