5 Successful Commodity Trading Strategies. Cautious to negative on MCX Crude.. MCX Gold could gain on the uncertainty factor.. MCX Copper – Use any bounces to sell.. Short term negative on MCX Zinc.. Long Trade on NCDEX Jeera on supply shortfall.
Table of contents
- 5 Successful Commodity Trading Strategies
- A Journey of Price Action Trading
- Commodity strategies: How gold and silver may trade today
- Learn to trade in MCX COMMODITY using SIMPLE PRICE ACTION TECHNIQUES
There are a range of commodities you can trade, including agricultural commodities such as corn, soybean and wheat. However, it's the energy markets, in the form of oil and gas trading, and metal markets like gold and silver that tend to be more popular with commodity traders these days.
The commodity markets are traded in a similar way to other types of financial markets, but there are some points to be aware of in order to avoid any shocks or surprises when dipping your toe into commodities trading. In this article, we focus on two of the more actively traded commodities: oil and gold. You can spread bet or trade CFDs on the most traded commodities within the market. As these are slightly different blends of oil, the prices vary depending on which one you are trading. Prices don't just depend on how much oil is being pumped out of the ground, for example.
As economies slow and demand drops, the price of oil and other commodities also tends to follow suit. Since oil prices are also impacted by world events such as politics and socioeconomic situations, including the Middle East crisis, it helps as an oil trader to keep on top of news so as not to get caught out by an unexpected shift in oil prices.
5 Successful Commodity Trading Strategies
Other factors influencing oil prices include decisions by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC and other major oil producing nations, such as Iran, on how much oil is produced and supplied to the market. An ability to try and forecast how well or badly the world economy may fare in the months ahead is a definite plus point when it comes to trading a commodity like oil. But there is plenty of news that can cause fluctuations in the price on a day-to-day basis — and on an even shorter-term scale than that.
Or it could be that an oil-producing country resists international pressure to stabilise oil prices by increasing production. This could see further slides in the oil price as investors worry that more of the commodity will be produced than is needed. It really is a market that can be buffeted by plenty of world events, so it pays to stay on top of major economic news releases.
Another enduringly popular commodity is gold, which has long been considered a store of wealth and has held a special allure for many of us — as the Californian gold rush back in the s would undoubtedly attest. Traditionally, in times of trouble and market volatility, gold is perceived as a 'safe haven' — somewhere for investors to store their money away from other riskier assets. Although the yellow metal can in theory be traded in many currencies, the typical market quote is to price gold in dollars, usually as 'dollars per troy ounce'.
This relationship to the US dollar is an important one and is another factor that will have an influence on the price of gold. If the dollar becomes more attractive to investors and starts to rise, the price of gold will usually drop. In recent years, some people have seen the US dollar as a safe haven for their money and that has reduced the appeal of gold.
A Journey of Price Action Trading
This is another aspect to weigh up when trading gold: the impact any moves in the dollar will have on the price of gold. For example, if the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, decided to cut interest rates, this would normally weaken the US dollar and lift the price of gold. As with oil, because gold is such a global commodity it pays to keep a watchful eye on the major economic announcements such as interest rates and unemployment figures, which are released on a regular basis.
The energy markets are also popular among commodity traders. The advent of renewable energy has generated added interest for commodities such as national gas, heating oil and gasoline. A commodity spread strategy involves taking opposite positions within the same or similar markets. This is a slightly lower-risk strategy than using futures contracts, as spreads experience less market fluctuations than a futures contract that is set to expire within a matter of weeks or months.
A trader may use commodity spread trading in the hope that the difference between the spread becomes more positive in the long-term, as the long side of the spread will rise in value in comparison with the short side. Like other commodity trading strategies, commodity spread trading can be affected by seasonality and other external factors. Therefore, traders can take advantage of a bull spread when trading high in the peak season for a particular commodity. These are the primary methods of trading commodities that you should familiarise yourself with.

Then, you can open a trading account by following the steps below. One way to get a feel for commodity markets is to watch their moves over a period of time so you can experience the sort of things that happen and understand what makes prices change. Seamlessly open and close trades, track your progress and set up alerts.
A commodity is a raw material or agricultural product that is actively traded, bought or sold. Frequently traded commodities include gold, oil, natural gas and sugar. The quality of a commodity may differ slightly, but it is basically uniform across all producers, as any commodities that are traded on an exchange must meet a specific minimum. See the range of commodities that we offer. Commodity traders buy and sell a large range of tangible instruments, such as energy products like oil and gas; precious metals like gold and silver; and soft commodities like wheat, corn and sugar. Commodity traders undertake fundamental analysis and technical analysis to forecast market movements.
They aim to buy when the price is low, which is usually determined by an abundance of supply and falling demand. They sell when they believe the supply is outweighed by the demand, which can result in a profit. Why not practice trading on the price movements of commodities via a demo account? However, please note that your profits and losses are magnified, as they are relative to the full trade value. See our guide to leverage in trading for more information. To get started, open a demo or live account to access our trading platform. On our platform, you can undertake all of the required steps to start trading on price movements of commodities, such as choosing from a variety of instruments, buying or selling via order tickets, and implementing risk management techniques.
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Thirdly, Trump has already withdrawn from the Paris Climate Agreement and that opens the doors for the US to undertake a substantial expansion of its shale capacity. MCX Gold could gain on the uncertainty factor.. The World Gold Council WGC has estimated that the gold demand in the year may not be substantially higher than in With central banks like the Federal Reserve, ECB and the Bank of Japan substantially diluting the value of their currencies by printing money, gold may emerge as a non-fiat store of value.
Gold will see a lot more demand and price appreciation in the coming weeks. MCX Copper — Use any bounces to sell..
Commodity strategies: How gold and silver may trade today
Copper has a weak outlook but considering that the metal has corrected for almost a couple of weeks in succession, it will be better to wait for a bounce before selling copper. This is creating doubts in the minds of copper traders. It needs no reiteration that China accounts for more than half of copper demand in the world and a tepid Chinese economy will reduce the demand for copper. Prices of copper will be under pressure but it is better to wait for bounces before selling copper.
Short term negative on MCX Zinc.. Zinc supply had been subdued due to many zinc mines and smelters in the Hunan Province of China were shut due to environmental inspection. With the inspections getting completed, the supply from these mines has started flooding the market leading to pressure on prices.
This is likely to continue in the near future.
Also the strong dollar will weigh on the price of MCX Zinc. Since the price of Zinc has a negative relationship with the dollar index, the US Fed hiking rates in its June meet will strengthen the dollar and weaken the Zinc prices. We are short term negative on MCX Zinc.. There are other producers like Syria and Turkey who are relatively much smaller. The jeera output this year is likely to be around 2.
Despite higher prices, exports will be buoyant as there are no alternatives. The gains in open interest also indicate that the prices could be headed up.
Learn to trade in MCX COMMODITY using SIMPLE PRICE ACTION TECHNIQUES
These are some of the key trading ideas for commodities. Open an Account. Learn Blog Details.