Rotation in Metals: Gold Leads Inflows as Silver Triggers Profit-Taking

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Weekly Channel Summary

The Commodity ETF channel currently consists of 70 ETFs across 28 brands, managing a total of $437B in assets. For the week ending January 30, 2026, the channel experienced net outflows of ($0.62B). Despite the weekly dip, investor sentiment remains strong over the longer term, with year-to-date (YTD) flows reaching $4.17B and a massive $61.34B in net new money gathered over the past year.

This Week’s Performance Leaders and Laggards

Performance was highly bifurcated this week, led by a massive 9.69% surge in the Precious Metals category. Shipping Freight also continued its volatile climb, posting a 9.18% WTD return. Conversely, Carbon Credits was the clear laggard, dropping -3.77% as environmental markets faced selling pressure. Agriculture and Industrial Metals saw more modest gains of 0.73% and 3.13%, respectively.

Category Performance Snapshot

Category WTD 1 Month 3 Month 6 Month YTD 1 Year
Precious Metals 9.69% 30.60% 57.52% 90.38% 33.61% 138.18%
Shipping Freight 9.18% 44.82% 59.57% 132.35% 51.31% 152.27%
Energy 5.82% 11.86% 9.34% 3.98% 13.83% 2.81%
Multi-Sector 3.72% 11.54% 14.25% 18.45% 11.92% 23.63%
Industrial Metals 3.13% 14.97% 23.76% 32.46% 12.71% 49.91%
Agriculture 0.73% 0.24% 0.16% -1.25% 1.17% -9.20%
Carbon Credits -3.77% -4.07% 0.99% 12.06% -4.18% 6.81%

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by Weekly Performance

The week was dominated by silver, with SLV and SIVR both returning an impressive 19.64%. On the flip side, carbon strategies struggled significantly, as KCCA fell -4.07% and KEUA dropped -3.87%.

Ticker Fund Name WTD Performance
Top Performers
SLV iShares Silver Trust 19.64%
SIVR abrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF 19.64%
GLTR abrdn Physical Precious Metals Basket Shares ETF 12.95%
BWET Breakwave Tanker Shipping ETF 9.76%
IAU iShares Gold Trust 9.28%
Bottom Performers
KCCA KraneShares California Carbon Allowance Strategy ETF -4.07%
KEUA KraneShares European Carbon Allowance Strategy ETF -3.87%
KRBN KraneShares Global Carbon Strategy ETF -3.61%
CTWO COtwo Advisors Physical European Carbon Allowance Trust -3.53%
ZSC USCF Sustainable Commodity Strategy Fund -0.48%

Analyzing the Weekly Flows

Total net flows for the channel were negative at ($620M) this week, largely driven by significant profit-taking in Silver. The Multi-Sector category led inflows with $260M, followed by Industrial Metals at $158M. Conversely, Precious Metals saw total net outflows of ($813M) as investors rotated out of silver despite its strong performance, while Energy also saw a pullback of ($229M).

Category Flows Summary

Category Fund Count AUM 5 Day 30 Day YTD 1 Year
Multi-Sector 25 $19.39B $260M $939M $904M $3,219M
Industrial Metals 4 $1.13B $158M $390M $378M $676M
Agriculture 8 $1.02B $2M ($7M) ($8M) ($38M)
Shipping Freight 2 $0.04B $1M ($1M) $0M ($40M)
Carbon Credits 4 $0.29B $0M ($5M) ($6M) ($39M)
Energy 11 $2.13B ($229M) ($302M) ($250M) ($391M)
Precious Metals 16 $413.36B ($813M) $2,988M $3,156M $57,949M

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by 5-Day Flow

IAU was the clear leader for inflows, gathering $595M this week. On the other hand, SLV saw massive outflows of ($1,982M), followed by SIVR with ($252M) in net withdrawals.

Ticker Fund Name 5-Day Flow
Inflows
IAU iShares Gold Trust $595M
GLDM SPDR Gold Minishares Trust $335M
IAUM iShares Gold Trust Micro ETF $163M
CPER United States Copper Index Fund $146M
HGER Harbor Commodity All-Weather Strategy ETF $97M
Outflows
SLV iShares Silver Trust ($1,982M)
SIVR abrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF ($252M)
UNG United States Natural Gas Fund LP ($149M)
USO United States Oil Fund LP ($90M)
UNL United States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund LP ($2M)

Issuer League Table Update

The commodity brand landscape is heavily concentrated, with SPDR and iShares together accounting for over 86% of the total market share. SPDR remains the leader by AUM with $223.31B (51.06% share), while iShares holds $156.09B (35.69%). This week, SPDR gathered the most weekly inflows with $412M, while iShares experienced net outflows of ($1,199M) due to the heavy withdrawals from its silver trust.

Top 5 Issuers by AUM

Brand Fund Count AUM AUM Market Share
SPDR 3 $223.32B 51.06%
iShares 7 $156.09B 35.69%
abrdn 7 $29.88B 6.83%
Invesco 9 $8.09B 1.85%
Goldman Sachs 1 $3.31B 0.76%

Top & Bottom 3 Issuers by 5-Day Flow

Brand 5-Day Flow
Inflows
SPDR $412M
Harbor $97M
Goldman Sachs $63M
Outflows
iShares ($1,199M)
US Commodity Funds ($87M)
abrdn ($74M)

For a deeper dive into these trends, access our FREE, in-depth Commodity ETF reports in the right side panel of this page.

Disclosures

This material is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. The information contained herein is based on data obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but its accuracy and completeness are not guaranteed. All investment strategies involve risks, including the potential loss of principal. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

This analysis was developed by the team at ETF Action, a data analytics and research platform specializing in exchange-traded funds. For more information about our methodology and data sources, please visit www.etfaction.com.