London, 3 February 2011

Led by strength in agriculture, the S&P GSCI increased 3.05% in January as the background of tight global supplies and strong demand was augmented by political that sparked fears over hoarding agricultural products. The S&P GSCI Agriculture Index increased 5.89% on the back of strong rallies in wheat, cotton and corn.

Also contributing to the S&P GSCI’s strength in January was a 1.6% decline in the U.S. Dollar Index and a reaffirmation from the Federal Open Market Committee on its quantitative easing policy. From August 2010 through the end of January 2011, the S&P GSCI Spot Index has increased 31.27%.

Political unrest in Egypt contributed to a 2.83% increase in the S&P GSCI Energy Index, and reminded many market participants about the significance of petroleum to the world’s economy. The base S&P GSCI is a world production-weighted index and petroleum is the world’s most widely produced commodity. Another commodity, copper, reached record highs in January, indicating improvements in global economic conditions and increased demand.

This contributed positively to the S&P GSCI Industrial Metals Index which increased 1.97% for a 12-month cumulative gain of 30.68%. Profit taking contributed to weakness in the precious metals. As the S&P GSCI Precious Metals Index declined 6.63% on the month, the index also reduced its 12-month increase to 27.52%.

The S&P GSCI Livestock Index increased 4.49% in January, led by strength in lean hogs which was supported by increased global demand. On the month, generally steepening contango-shaped futures curves, notably in the energy sector helped the Enhanced and Forward versions of the S&P GSCI outperform the base index. This outperformance is measured by a January gain of 4.33% for the S&P GSCI Enhanced Index and a 4.37% gain for the S&P GSCI 3-Month Forward Index. January 2011 S&P INDICES.

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