Despite the weakness in the commodities space, diamonds are shining, supported by the rising middle class in the emerging markets. While there is no physically backed diamond fund, investors can still gain exposure to the asset through a miners exchange traded fund.
The PureFunds ISE Diamond/Gemstone ETF (NYSEArca: GEMS) gained 13.3% over the past month and increased 12.2% in the last three months. [PureFunds ETFs Track a Different Vein in Mining Industry]
“The ETF just moved back into positive territory and is up 1.5% since March 5th, showing resilience for a mining heavy product, most of which were materially weaker over the same time period,” Paul Zimnisky, CEO of Pure Funds, said in a note.
The recent earnings season showed that long-term Asia demand continues to support the diamond industry, Zimnisky said. For example, China has become the 2nd largest jewelry consumer in the world from 5th largest over the past eight years.
Tiffany (NYSE: TIF) also pointed to “Asia-Pacific” demand growth as a major factor to its second quarter earnings, along with lower gold prices, which helped diamond demand as well.
On an earnings report for the first half, Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO) stated that they experienced average price declines in almost all major commodities “with the exception of diamonds.”