For the third consecutive week, there has been a significant inflow of funds into commodities, highly concentrated in precious metals and agricultural products.
Global capital continues to increase investment in the commodity markets, with flows rapidly "concentrating."
According to ChaseWind Trading Desk, JPMorgan's Global Commodity Research Report released on January 27 shows that, driven by the third consecutive week of large-scale capital inflows and rising prices of precious metals and natural gas, the total value of open interest in global commodity markets has climbed to a historic high.
For the week ending January 23, 2026, the valuation of open interest in global commodity markets rose nearly 6% week-on-week (an increase of about $101 billion), reaching $1.83 trillion.
The report points out this round of expansion is primarily driven by continuous net capital inflows combined with rising prices, with precious metals and agricultural products being the most concentrated directions for fund allocation.
Funds see net inflows for the third straight week, with precious metals and agricultural products showing most obvious "attraction"
Precious metals sector was the absolute driving force for capital inflows that week.
In globally traded commodity futures contracts, the net inflow reached about $36 billion, showing high concentration across various asset classes. Precious metals recorded $21.5 billion net contract inflow, with gold attracting about $15.8 billion, significantly higher than silver, platinum, and palladium.
At the price level, the report shows that gold prices rose about 8% and silver prices rose about 14% for the week, with price and capital forming a positive resonance.
Therefore, for the week ending January 23, the value of open interest in the precious metals market surged 16% week-on-week (roughly $59 billion) to $433 billion, becoming the single largest contributing sector.
JPMorgan's commodity strategy team notes that investors' holdings in precious metals have approached stage highs, but the structural logic for gold remains relatively clear, and compared to silver, they remain more bullish on gold.
Silver remains vulnerable to sudden and disruptive correction risks. Although such volatility may have some transmission effect on gold prices, this mainly impacts the gold-silver ratio, repricing gold. This provides a buying opportunity for gold, as gold maintains a clearer, more bullish structural logic.
Energy and Agriculture: Weather dominates natural gas, full-board inflow for agricultural products
In the energy market, the value of open interest increased 4.8% week-on-week (adding $32 billion) to $700 billion.
Among these, crude oil and refined products saw contract net inflows of about $8 billion, as short-term supply disruptions continue to support prices amid a temporary easing of geopolitical risks.
By contrast, the natural gas market showed a "price-driven expansion". The report notes that while natural gas contracts saw a $2.5 billion net outflow for the week, ongoing cold spells in North America and Europe drove a 70% surge in the US Henry Hub natural gas price over the week, leading to a significant rise in open interest value.
The research notes that European gas inventory levels are historically low for the season and rising heating demand is an important backdrop for the rapid price increase.
Agriculture also received strong capital attention. Data shows that the value of global agricultural products market open interest rose 2.4% week-on-week to about $337 billion. This growth was driven by an $8.9 billion net inflow to contracts across all sub-sectors, with price increases for grains, oilseeds, and livestock offsetting price declines in soft commodities.
Base Metals: Copper inventory increase puts pressure on fundamentals
Open interest valuation for base metals increased 2% week-on-week to $258.4 billion.
However, in terms of capital flow, the sector as a whole saw a net outflow ($400 million). Although copper and lead registered $2 billion in inflow, this was offset by $2.4 billion outflow in other products within the sector.
JPMorgan analysts express caution regarding high copper prices, stating that fundamentals are becoming more challenging. The report mentions: “Ahead of China’s Lunar New Year (February 17), inventory accumulation is higher than normal, and COMEX/LME arbitrage at the front end of the curve has reversed.”
Investor holdings overall stabilizing, but structural shifts are evident
On investor net positions, as of January 20, global commodity futures market investor net longs stood at about $195 billion, generally flat week-on-week.
Structurally:
- Net longs in precious metals remain at a high level of about $130.6 billion;
- The energy sector remains net short, but the scale of short positions narrowed to about $9.6 billion, mainly due to improved European gas holdings;
- Net longs in base metals and agricultural products both saw slight declines.
The research also cautions that short-term momentum indicators for some products are approaching "overheated" levels, suggesting buying momentum may see a temporary slowdown.
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