Commodity exchange traded funds (ETFs) charged ahead today. What’s going on behind the scenes?

Much of the move was led by precious metals and energy, and was based on speculation that the Federal Reserve’s steps to invigorate the U.S. economy will kick up demand for raw materials as an inflation hedge, says Millie Munshi for Bloomberg.

Some of the highlights:

• Silver had its biggest gain since 1979 – futures soared 13%
• Gold jumped the most since September
• Oil moved up to $52 a barrel
• Every commodity in the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 prices moved higher
• The dollar took a spill against six major currencies for the eighth consecutive session

The Federal Reserve’s decisions yesterday to increase its balance sheet has the markets thinking that it’s both an inflationary move and a move to devalue the dollar.

• iShares GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust (GSG): up 7.5% in the last week

Tags: Commodity ETFs, Energy, Gold, Oil, Precious Metals, Silver, U.S. Dollar