The stronger dollar and rate hike expectations have also lessened demand for gold ETFs, which have seen demand plunge to six-year lows, reports Ranjeetha Pakiam for Bloomberg. Along with the dollar pressure, gold is less attractive in a rising rate environment because the asset does not generate a yield.
Year-to-date, the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD), iShares Gold Trust (NYSEArca: IAU) and ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (NYSEArca: SGOL) have dropped over 8%.
Additionally, some commodities, like copper, are lower on the economic weakness in China, a major raw materials consumer, and other emerging markets.
“Global growth is weak,” Alireza added.
Copper prices are also trading around six-year lows, with the iPath Bloomberg Copper Subindex Total Return ETN (NYSEArca: JJC) down 24.1% and United States Copper Index ETF (NYSEArca: CPER) 22.2% lower year-to-date.
For more information on the commodities market, visit our commodity ETFs category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.